Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have seized a total of 8,852kgs (8.8 tons) of ‘Canadian Loud’, an imported synthetic strain of cannabis, at the Eleko Beach road in the Lekki area of Lagos State after a 30-minute gunfight with armed men escorting the consignment loaded in two trucks.
The spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, said on Sunday in Abuja via a statement that acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives had laid an ambush on the traffickers along the Eleko Beach road in Lekki and at 4:51 am on Thursday 4th May.
According to him, two long trucks conveying the illicit consignments were flagged down but rather than stopp 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.
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“While one of the trucks painted red has 149 jumbo bags weighing 6,548kgs, the second one with blue colour has 53 big bags with a weight of 2,304kgd, bringing the total number of bags to 202 and gross weight of both to 8,852kgs. “Meanwhile, operatives are already on the trail of the drug lord who shipped the illicit consignment into the country,” Babafemi said.