By Kamil Opeyemi
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have seized a total of 8,852 kilograms (8.8 tons) of Canadian Loud, an imported synthetic strain of cannabis, at the Eleko beach road in Lekki area of Lagos.
This, according to the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday was recorded after a 30-minute gun fight with armed men who were escorting the consignment loaded in two long trucks.
The personnel of the anti-narcotic agency who were acting on credible intelligence had laid ambush for the traffickers along the Eleko beach road in Lekki.
According to the statement, at about 4:51am on Thursday 4th May, two long trucks conveying the illicit consignments were flagged down but rather than stopping, the trucks escorted by armed men sped off, as a result of which there was an exchange of gunfire that lasted 30 minutes.
“After they were overpowered by the NDLEA operatives, the truck drivers and their armed escorts escaped into the bush abandoning the trucks and the drug consignments.
“While one of the trucks painted red has 149 jumbo bags weighing 6,548kg, the second one with blue colour has 53 big bags with a weight of 2,304kg, bringing the total number of bags to 202 and gross weight of both to 8,852 kilograms.
“Meanwhile, operatives are already on the trail of the drug lord who shipped the illicit consignment into the country,” Babafemi said in the statement
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, attached to courier firms have intercepted blocks of compressed brown methamphetamine packaged as soap bars weighing 1.54 kilograms going to Australia.
“The seizure at a courier house in Lagos on Tuesday 2nd May was a follow up operation to an earlier interception of 3.389kg of the same substance on 23rd February 2023.
“A suspected drug courier, Paul Adetigbe who delivered the previous parcel was eventually arrested with the latest consignment.”
Commending the officers and men of Lagos, for their vigilance and professionalism, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) urged them and their peers across the country to step up in their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction.