NDLEA arrests Thai lady with boxes of drugs at Lagos Airport

Operatives of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA, have bursted attempts by a 24-year-old Pattaphi Wimonnat, a Thai lady to smuggle 43 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos.

Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, said the Agency operatives foiled the attempt to smuggle in the drugs

weighing 46.60 kilograms, in a statement on Sunday.

The statement said the suspect who confessed to being a hired drug trafficker was arrested on Thursday 20th February 2025 during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight from Thailand via Doha, Qatar at the arrival hall, terminal 2 of the Lagos airport.

She said the drug cartel, which recruited her promised to pay her $3,000 upon successful delivery of the illicit drug consignment in Nigeria.

…Intercepts UK-bound drug shipments concealed in crated cartons

According to Babafemi, “Another bid by a drug trafficking syndicate to ship 68 parcels of Ghanaian Loud with a total weight of 42.2kg concealed in walls of crated cartons to London, UK, through the export shed of the Lagos airport was also frustrated by NDLEA officers on Friday 21st February.

Read also: India bans opioids fuelling Nigeria’s drug abuse

Three suspects: a freight agent and two dispatch riders were initially arrested in connection with the seizure before the mastermind of the shipment, Samuel Bitris, was swiftly traced to his Exodus Estate, Ajah, Lagos home where he was arrested.

At the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state, NDLEA officers on Thursday 20th February intercepted 49 cartons containing 49,000 pills of tamol, a brand of tramadol 225mg in a 40ft container during a joint examination of the shipment with men of Customs Service and other security agencies.

In Nasarawa state

NDLEA operatives also on Saturday, February 22, arrested two suspects: Bello Adamu, 40, and Pius Azuka, 42 at Kokona/Keffi with 517kg of skunk, while two other suspects: Usman Ruwa, 43, and Yunusa Haruna, 45, were nabbed in a Toyota Corolla car conveying 62.7 kilograms of skunk along Sabon Asibiti road Kontagora, Niger state on Thursday, February 20.

The statement said the Commands and formations of the Agency across the country have continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitisation activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.

Read also: ‘Nigeria’s rich, powerful fueling illegal drug trading’ – Ayuba

“These include: WADA sensitisation lecture to students and staff of Maku Grammar School, Tapa, Oyo state; Comprehensive Secondary School, Orogwe, Imo state; Jama’atu Islamiyya Secondary School, Ankpa, Kogi state; and Owerri-Aba Primary School, Ugwunagba, Imo state, among others.”