By Ibironke Ariyo
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a large consignment of Canadian Loud, a high-potency strain of cannabis, weighing 4,173.5 kilograms with a street value of N10.4billion at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos.
A statement by the NDLEA spokesman on Wednesday in Abuja said that the successful interdiction of the illicit drug consignment followed painstaking intelligence gathering.
This he said included sustained surveillance, and trailing of the container, which was transloaded a number of times since it left Toronto, Canada on March 28.
Babafemi said that it was conveyed through rails to Montreal, where it was loaded on board a vessel, Jakarta express voyage, which arrived at Tanger Med Port in Morocco on April 15.
He added that it was discharged and reloaded on another vessel, the Osaka voyage, which eventually arrived the Lagos Port on Saturday.
“It took over two months of monitoring the shipment by the Marine Intelligence Unit of NDLEA and the Tincan Island Strategic Command of the agency.
“Operatives worked in close collaboration with international partners particularly the United Kingdom Home Office International Operations, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“These efforts culminated in the eventual seizure of the consignment on Tuesday, May 12 during a joint examination of the container by NDLEA operatives, men of Customs Service and other security agencies.
“The development comes barely four days after NDLEA operatives raided a Lekki mansion used as a stash house where 4,000 parcels of the same psychoactive substance weighing 2,326 kilograms worth over N5.8billion were recovered,”he said.\
Babafemi said that the illicit drug consignments from Canada were professionally packed and concealed inside two vehicles.
This, he said included a used Ford Bus and a Mercedes Benz C300 car, stashed within the shipping container.
Speaking during the handover of the exhibits by the NCS at the Port in Lagos, the NDLEA’s Director of Seaports Operations, ACG Ibinabo Archieabis said the “achievement once again demonstrated the effectiveness of inter-agency cooperation.”
This, he added, included international collaboration, and intelligence-driven operations in combating transnational organized crime and illicit drug trafficking.
Reacting to the development, the NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, commended the officers of the Tincan Command and the MIU of the agency for their vigilance and professional conduct.
Marwa noted that the volume of recent Loud seizures highlighted a coordinated attempt by international drug syndicates to flood the Nigerian market with synthetic strains of cannabis.
“This second massive seizure in less than a week is a clear message to the international syndicates who think they can use our ports as entry points for their soul-destroying trade.
“The synergy between NDLEA and Customs Service as well as other security agencies and our international partners like the Canadian Royal Mounted Police, the UK-HOIO and the US DEA is yielding fantastic results.
“We will not rest until every link in this supply chain is broken and those behind these shipments are brought to justice”, Marwa maintained.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)