NDLEA intercepts N3.3bn meth, loud in Christmas shipments

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted about N3.3 billion worth of methamphetamine and loud, a strong synthetic strain of cannabis meant for distribution during the Christmas and New Year festive season.

Femi Babafemi, director, media & advocacy, NDLEA, in a statement on Sunday, said the goods were concealed in automobile spare parts imported from Canada.

The consignments were intercepted at the Tincan seaport in Lagos after months of intelligence-driven tracking of the cargoes across three continents.

According to him, “For the first time in the history of NDLEA’s anti-narcotic operations, two consignments of methamphetamine weighing 83.301 kilograms were on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th 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.”

The NDLEA said one of the containers going to Ladipo Market through the Sifax bonded terminal was examined on Thursday December 12, with not less than 5.001kg methamphetamine hidden in a bag wrapped in bed sheet that came in a Toyota Camry car.

The NDLEA spokesman also revealed that a “businessman, Isaac Onwumere linked with the consignment was promptly arrested.”

The other container bearing automobile spare parts checked on Friday, December 13, was found to contain 1, 735 parcels of loud packed in 44 jumbo bags with a total weight of 867.5kg and six plastic coolers containing 87 packs of methamphetamine weighing 78.3kg.

The anti narcotics agency also revealed that “at least, two businessmen: Nwanolue Emeka and Friday Ogbe have been arrested in connection with the seizure.”

“The two meth consignments have a combined weight of 83.301kg worth One Hundred and Twenty-Four Million Nine Hundred and Fifty-One Thousand Naira (124,951,000.00) while the 867.5kg Loud is worth Two Billion One Hundred and Sixty-Eight Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N2,168,750,000.00) in street value.

“The seizures were made during a joint examination of the shipments with Customs and other port stakeholders. This followed months of intelligence processing and tracking of the consignments from their ports of loading in Canada to the landing port in Lagos by combined Special Operations Units in NDLEA and the Tincan Port Strategic Command of the Agency.”

The agency said 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 October 8 when the shipment was received at the rail ramp, loaded on the rail and departed to Montreal, Canada, where it arrived and was unloaded the following day October 9.

The consignment was further monitored till it was loaded on a vessel on October 19 through when the vessel arrived and discharged at Antwerp in Belgium on October 30 after which the consignment was trans-shipped and loaded on November 14 before arriving Lagos port on December 1 and released to a bonded terminal two days after.