The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced a partnership with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA) to uncover the cartel behind the seizure of cocaine worth over ₦338 billion at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos.
The imported 1,000 kilograms of cocaine were recovered from a container at the PTML Terminal.
This was disclosed in a statement made available to ThelensNG by the Director of Media and Advocacy of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Tuesday.
Babafemi noted that the PTML operators had noticed the consignment in an empty container last weekend and invited port stakeholders, including NDLEA, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other security agencies, for a joint examination.
He revealed that after a field test by the NDLEA confirmed the shipment to be cocaine, the consignment was formally transferred to the agency’s custody for further investigation.
The spokesperson explained that this followed a collaborative engagement between the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, and the Comptroller-General of Customs, Dr. Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
“As a result of the large quantity of the recovered Class A drug, which is worth over $235million dollars (over ₦338 billion) in the international market and the global dimension of the cocaine cartel, Marwa, on Tuesday 11th November directed that the Agency’s leading international partners be involved in the investigation,” he stated.
Consequently, officers of the US-DEA and UK-NCA have already joined the ongoing investigation into the largest single seizure of cocaine at the Tin Can Port.
Reacting to the development, Marwa said: “The essence of collaborating with our international partners on this case is to ensure no stone is left unturned and every gap is sufficiently covered so that ultimately we can get all the masterminds of this huge consignment brought to book, wherever they are located across the globe. This followed excellent personal engagement between myself and the Customs CG on this case.”
