Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted 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.
Spokesman of the NDLEA Femi Babafemi, on Sunday in a statement, said the interception was carried out at the Tincan seaport in Lagos after months of intelligence-driven tracking of the cargoes across three continents.
“For the first time in the history of NDLEA’s anti-narcotic operations, two consignments of methamphetamine weighing 83.301kgs were on Thursday 12 and Friday 13, December, 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 12, December, not less than 5.001kgs methamphetamine hidden in a bag wrapped in bed sheet that came in a Toyota Camry car, was recovered. A businessman, Isaac Onwumere linked with the consignment was promptly arrested,” Babafemi said.
He said the other container bearing automobile spare parts checked on 13 December was found to contain 1, 735 parcels of Loud packed in 44 jumbo bags with a total weight of 867.5kgs and six plastic coolers containing 87 packs of methamphetamine weighing 78.3kgs.
Two businessmen – Nwanolue Emeka and Friday Ogbe – have been arrested in connection with the seizures.
The two meth consignments have a N124,951,000 street value; while the 867.5kgs Loud is worth N2,168,750,000.
The seizures were made during a joint examination of the shipments with customs and other port stakeholders.
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 8th October when the shipment was received at the rail ramp, and departed to Montreal, Canada and unloaded the following day.
The consignment was further monitored till the vessel arrived and discharged at Antwerp in Belgium on 30th October and trans-shipped on 14th November before arriving Lagos port on 1st December and released to a bonded terminal two days after.
The second shipment containing 867.5kgs Loud and 78.3kgs methamphetamine followed the same route.
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