Operatives of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Lagos have intercepted a consignment of cannabis disguised in sachets typically used for moi-moi, a popular Nigerian steamed bean dish.
Gatekeepers News reports that according to a statement on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the suspect, Chidi Agbafo, was arrested while transporting the concealed drugs on a commercial bus along Epe-Ajah Expressway.
He was found with 21.7kg of Colorado, a synthetic variant of cannabis, and 3.8 litres of codeine-based syrup, allegedly en route to Warri and Oghara in Delta State.
In a separate case, the agency arrested a Chinese national, Liang Tak You, on July 25 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Liang, a naturalised Malaysian resident, had travelled from Bangkok via Dubai on an Emirates flight. He was found in possession of two suitcases containing 50 parcels of “Loud,” a highly potent strain of cannabis, weighing a total of 26.10kg.
NDLEA operatives, who had been monitoring his movements from his point of departure, allowed him to go through airport checks before apprehending him as he exited the terminal.
Elsewhere, an 80-year-old woman, Grace Ekpeme, was arrested on July 26 at Edet-Nsa Street in Calabar South, Cross River State. Acting on intelligence reports, NDLEA officers discovered over 3kg of skunk in her residence.
At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, officers, in collaboration with Customs and other security agencies, uncovered 101kg of Canadian Loud.
The drugs were disguised as 202 tins of imported “Bean Salad Mix” and hidden inside two Toyota Sienna buses contained in a shipment from Canada. The discovery was made during a joint inspection on Friday, July 25.
Additionally, along Abuja-Kaduna highway on July 23, NDLEA operatives recovered 71,000 pills of tramadol, diazepam, and exol-5 from a suspect, Usman Musa, travelling in a commercial bus bound for Kano.
In Borno State, 30-year-old Binta Usman was arrested the same day in the Muna Moforo area of Maiduguri, where 30.1kg of skunk was found in her home. Her accomplice, Bala Abdullahi, was later apprehended on July 25 during a follow-up operation in the same locality.
Meanwhile, in Ondo State, three brothers, Nanna, Chizom, and Maxwell Ozirinye, were taken into custody on July 26 after a raid on a cannabis farm at Bending Corner Forest, Idoani in Ose LGA.
NDLEA officers destroyed over 2,500kg of cannabis grown on one hectare and seized an additional 121.4kg of the substance from the site.
