Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted no fewer than 66 parcels of Loud (a strong strain of cannabis), weighing 62.2 kilograms, packaged as green tea at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
The seizure, made on June 5, 2025, was based on credible intelligence received ahead of the arrival of the consignment at the cargo wing of the airport on May 11.
The Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA, Mr. Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement made available to Thelensng on Sunday.
“The NDLEA had watch-listed the shipment, and sustained surveillance around it for over three weeks before inviting other stakeholders for a joint examination last Thursday. The Loud consignment weighing 62.20kg was concealed inside wraps of green tea that came from Thailand via UAE on an Emirate Airlines flight,” the statement noted.
In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives, on June 2, intercepted a consignment of 1,665kg skunk (a strain of cannabis) along the Lekki-Ajah Expressway, and two suspects; Gidado Abdulrasaq Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi were promptly arrested in connection with the seizure.
Elsewhere (Kaduna), operatives of the state command of NDLEA on patrol along the Abuja – Kaduna Expressway on June 3 arrested 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka with 612 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 2,970 pills of flunitrazepam.
Similarly, a 52-year-old wanted drug dealer, Kabiru Musa (a.k.a KB) was apprehended at Kurmin Mashi the same day, while a total of 25.7kg of skunk had earlier been recovered from his base.
“While a total of 9kg Loud was recovered from the spare tyre compartment of an Audi station wagon car marked AAA 975 XU driven by Atari Israel, 45, along Auchi road, Edo State, two young ladies: Favour Joy and Joy Igwe were on Tuesday 3rd June nabbed at Ikpoba hill area of Benin city. Recovered from them include: 106.57kg skunk; 1kg Loud; 800grams Colorado and 302grams of methamphetamine,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA commands continued across the country in the past week.
Some of the activities included WADA sensitisation lecture delivered to students and staff of Sir Usman Nagogo College of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Katsina; Fountain of Knowledge International Academy, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; and Prof. Eyo Ita Municipal Model Primary School, Calabar, Cross River.
Others were Millennium High School, Egbeda, Lagos; and Community Secondary School, Ichida Anaocha, Anambra; while Zone 13 Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Amayanabo of Nembe kingdom, Dr. Edmund Dakoru, Mingi Xii, in Nembe, Bayelsa State.
Reacting to the arrests and seizures in the past week, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended the officers and men of MMIA, Lagos, Kaduna, and Edo Commands of the Agency.
Marwa also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
