The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a large consignment of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 4,173.5 kilograms and valued at N10.4 billion at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed in a statement on Wednesday that the seizure followed months of intelligence gathering, surveillance and tracking of the shipment from Canada to Nigeria.
According to him, the container left Toronto, Canada, on March 28 and was transported by rail to Montreal before being loaded onto a vessel, Jakarta Express Voyage, which arrived at Tanger Med Port in Morocco on April 15.
The cargo was later transferred to another vessel, Osaka Voyage, which eventually arrived in Lagos on Saturday.
Babafemi said operatives of the NDLEA’s Marine Intelligence Unit and the Tincan Island Strategic Command monitored the shipment for over two months in collaboration with international partners, including the United Kingdom Home Office International Operations, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The illicit consignment was eventually intercepted on Tuesday during a joint examination involving NDLEA operatives, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
He revealed that the drugs were concealed inside two vehicles — a used Ford bus and a Mercedes-Benz C300 car — hidden within the shipping container.
The seizure comes days after NDLEA operatives raided a mansion in Lekki allegedly used as a stash house, where 4,000 parcels of the same substance weighing 2,326 kilograms and valued at over N5.8 billion were recovered.
Speaking during the handover of the seized exhibits in Lagos, NDLEA Director of Seaports Operations, ACG Ibinabo Archieabis, described the operation as another example of effective inter-agency and international collaboration against transnational drug trafficking.
NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operation, noting that the recent seizures indicated a coordinated attempt by international drug syndicates to flood the Nigerian market with synthetic cannabis products.
“This second massive seizure in less than a week sends a strong warning to criminal networks attempting to use Nigerian ports for illicit drug trafficking. We will continue to work with local and international partners to dismantle every link in the supply chain,” Marwa said.