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By Lizzy Chirkpi
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted 4,173.5 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis, valued at over N10.4 billion at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos, in what authorities described as one of the agency’s biggest seizures in recent months.
According to the agency, the illicit consignment was uncovered after months of intelligence gathering, surveillance and international collaboration involving the United Kingdom Home Office International Operations, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The NDLEA said the container left Toronto, Canada on March 28 before being moved by rail to Montreal, where it was loaded onto a vessel bound for Morocco. The shipment was later transferred to another vessel that arrived Lagos Port on May 9.
The seizure was eventually made on Tuesday, May 12, during a joint examination involving NDLEA operatives, officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
The agency disclosed that the drugs were professionally concealed inside two vehicles a used Ford bus and a Mercedes Benz C300 car hidden within the shipping container.
Speaking during the handover of the exhibits in Lagos on Wednesday, NDLEA Director of Seaports Operations, ACG Ibinabo ArchieAbia, said the operation underscored the strength of intelligence-driven enforcement and inter-agency cooperation.
“This achievement once again demonstrates the effectiveness of inter-agency cooperation, international collaboration, and intelligence-driven operations in combating transnational organised crime and illicit drug trafficking,” ArchieAbia said.
The latest interception comes barely four days after NDLEA operatives raided a mansion in Lekki allegedly used as a stash house, where 2,326 kilograms of the same psychoactive substance worth over N5.8 billion were recovered.
Reacting to the latest seizure, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, said the recent discoveries pointed to a coordinated attempt by international drug syndicates to flood Nigeria with synthetic cannabis products.
“This second massive seizure in less than a week is a clear message to the international syndicates who think they can use our ports as entry points for their soul-destroying trade, that the synergy between NDLEA and Customs Service as well as other security agencies and our international partners like the Canadian Royal Mounted Police, the UK-HOIO and the US DEA is yielding fantastic results,” Marwa stated.
“We will not rest until every link in this supply chain is broken and those behind these shipments are brought to justice,” he added