Three kingpins nabbed as NDLEA intercepts N3.3billion drugs from Canada
By Emma Ogbuehi
Multi-billion-naira worth of shipments of Methamphetamine and Loud, a strong synthetic strain of cannabis meant for distribution during the Christmas and New Year festive season, concealed in automobile spare parts imported from Canada, have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Tincan seaport in Lagos after months of intelligence-driven tracking of the cargoes across three continents.
According to a release by NDLEA director, media and advocacy, Femi Babafemi, for the first time in the history of the Agency’s anti-narcotic operations, two consignments of methamphetamine weighing 83.301 kilograms were on Thursday December 12 and Friday, December 13, 2024, recovered from separate containers bearing vehicles and spare parts coming from Canada and heading to warehouses in the Ladipo automobile parts market in Mushin area of Lagos.
While one of the containers going to Ladipo market through the Sifax bonded terminal was examined on Thursday, December 12, not less than 5.001kg methamphetamine hidden in a bag wrapped in bed sheet that came in a Toyota Camry car, was recovered, even as a businessman, Isaac Onwumere linked with the consignment was promptly arrested.
The other container bearing automobile spare parts checked on Friday, December 13, was found to contain 1, 735 parcels of Loud packed in 44 jumbo bags with a total weight of 867.5kg and six plastic coolers containing 87 packs of methamphetamine weighing 78.3kg. At least, two businessmen: Nwanolue Emeka and Friday Ogbe have been arrested in connection with the seizure.
READ ALSO:
NDLEA arrests over 14,000 drug trafficking suspects, secures 2,867 court convictions
The two meth consignments have a combined weight of 83.301kg worth One Hundred and Twenty-Four Million Nine Hundred and Fifty-One Thousand Naira (124,951,000.00) while the 867.5kg Loud is worth Two Billion One Hundred and Sixty-Eight Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N2,168,750,000.00) in street value.
The seizures were made during a joint examination of the shipments with Customs and other port stakeholders. This followed months of intelligence processing and tracking of the consignments from their ports of loading in Canada to the landing port in Lagos by combined Special Operations Units in NDLEA and the Tincan Port Strategic Command of the Agency.
The first container with 5.001kg meth came under the radar of NDLEA’s intelligence network on October 4, 2024 when the preparation for the shipment began in Toronto, Canada, monitored through October 8, when the shipment was received at the rail ramp, loaded on the rail and departed to Montreal, Canada where it arrived and was unloaded the following day, October 9. The consignment was further monitored till it was loaded on a vessel on October 19, through when the vessel arrived and discharged at Antwerp in Belgium on October 30 after which the consignment was trans-shipped and loaded on November 14 before arriving Lagos port on December 1 and released to a bonded terminal two days after.
The second shipment containing 867.5kg Loud and 78.3kg methamphetamine followed the same route. It came under NDLEA’s intelligence tracking on October 8, 2024 when the consignments were delivered to the shipper in Toronto, Canada, loaded on the rail on October 14 and arrived Montreal the following day, 15th, after which they were loaded on a vessel to Europe on October 20. After arrival and trans-shipment at Antwerp in Belgium on 6th and 17th November respectively, the consignments were tracked till they arrived and discharged from the vessel at Lagos port on December 6 before being moved to the terminal on December 10.
At the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state, no fewer than Six Hundred and Thirty-Six Thousand Six Hundred (636,600) bottles of codeine-based syrup worth Four Billion Four Hundred and Fifty-Six Million Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N4,456,200,000.00) in street value were intercepted in shipments from India on Monday 9, Wednesday 11 and Friday December 13, 2024.
The seizures were made during joint examination of four containers by NDLEA officers, men of Customs and other security agencies at the port following processed credible intelligence on the shipments.
With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA sensitisation lecture to students and staff of City Comprehensive College, Ogidi, Anambra; Government Secondary School, Toungo, Adamawa; Bonny Camp Primary School, Victoria Island, Lagos; Government Junior Secondary School, Yarganji, Kano, while Oyo state command of NDLEA delivered WADA enlightenment lecture to leaders, elders, youths and residents of Tapa community, Tapa, among others.
While commending the officers and men of the Special Operations Units, Tincan, and Onne Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) stated that the operational successes should show the drug barons and cartels that the Agency has the capacity and intelligence network to track their movements and their consignments even before getting to Nigeria. He said they will continue to lose heavily if they fail to back down on the criminal trade.