NDLEA Intercepts N3.3B meth, loud shipments in auto parts from Canada bound for Ladipo market
-Three individuals, Isaac Onwumere, Nwanolue Emeka, and Friday Ogbe, have been apprehended in connection with the crime.
December 15, 2024
By Adedoja Adesoji
The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have made a seizure of methamphetamine and Loud, a strong synthetic strain of cannabis, worth billions of naira.
The shipments, concealed in automobile spare parts imported from Canada, were intercepted at the Tincan seaport in Lagos.
According to the NDLEA, the consignments were tracked across three continents, from Canada to Europe and finally to Nigeria.
The agency’s intelligence network monitored the shipments from October 4, 2024, when the preparation for the shipment began in Toronto, Canada.
The first container, which arrived in Lagos on December 1, 2024, contained 5.001 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a bag wrapped in a bed sheet.
The shipment was linked to a businessman, Isaac Onwumere, who was promptly arrested.
The second container, which arrived in Lagos on December 6, 2024, contained 867.5 kilograms of Loud and 78.3 kilograms of methamphetamine.
Two businessmen, Nwanolue Emeka and Friday Ogbe, were arrested in connection with the seizure.
The combined weight of the methamphetamine is 83.301 kilograms, worth N124,951,000. The 867.5 kilograms of Loud is worth N2,168,750,000.
The NDLEA’s Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of the Special Operations Units, Tincan, and Onne Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures.
“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,” Marwa said.
“They will continue to lose heavily if they fail to back down on the criminal trade.”
In a related development, the NDLEA also intercepted 636,600 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N4,456,200,000 at the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers State.
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.
The NDLEA has continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities across the country, targeting schools, worship centers, workplaces, and communities.