The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 66 parcels of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the drugs, weighing 62.2kg, were disguised as green tea and seized at the airport’s import shed on Thursday, June 5.
The consignment originated from Thailand and arrived in Nigeria via the United Arab Emirates aboard an Emirates Airlines flight.
Babafemi said the operation followed credible intelligence and weeks of surveillance. The shipment, which arrived on May 11, was placed on a watch list, with NDLEA operatives monitoring it closely until a joint examination was conducted last Thursday.
In a separate operation along the Lekki-Ajah expressway on Monday, June 2, NDLEA officers intercepted 1,665kg of skunk, another cannabis variant. Two suspects were arrested at the scene.
Elsewhere in Kaduna State, a 29-year-old man was arrested along the Abuja–Kaduna expressway on June 3. Authorities recovered 612 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 2,970 pills of flunitrazepam from the suspect.
That same day, NDLEA operatives arrested a 52-year-old wanted drug dealer in Kurmin Mashi, recovering 25.7kg of skunk from his location.
In Edo State, officers stopped an Audi station wagon along Auchi road and recovered 9kg of Loud hidden in the spare tyre compartment. A 45-year-old man driving the vehicle was arrested.
Also in Benin City, two women were apprehended on June 3 in the Ikpoba Hill area with a cache of illicit substances, including 106.57kg of skunk, 1kg of Loud, 800 grams of Colorado (another cannabis strain), and 302 grams of methamphetamine.
Meanwhile, the agency continued its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign during the week. Advocacy activities included sensitization lectures at several schools, including Sir Usman Nagogo College of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Katsina, Fountain of Knowledge International Academy in Ebonyi, and schools in Cross River, Lagos, and Anambra states.
The NDLEA’s Zone 13 Command also paid an advocacy visit to the traditional ruler of the Nembe Kingdom, Dr. Edmund Dakoru, in Bayelsa State.
Chairman of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd.), commended the agency’s officers in Lagos, Kaduna, Edo, and other commands for their recent successes in drug seizures and arrests.