The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has seized 8,852 kilograms of Canadian loud, an imported synthetic strain of cannabis, at Eleko Road in the Lekki area of Lagos.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
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He said the seizure was made after operatives of the agency engaged armed persons escorting the illegal substances in a gun duel for about 30 minutes.
According to him, the agency acted on intelligence and laid ambush for the traffickers transporting the consignment loaded in two trucks on Thursday.
Babafemi said, “When the suspects who were escorted by armed men were flagged down, rather than stop, they escaped and abandoned the drugs. But they were later overpowered by the operatives in an exchange of gunfire that lasted 30 minutes.
“While one of the trucks painted red has 149 jumbo bags weighing 6,548kg, the second one with blue colour has 53 big bags with a weight of 2,304kg, bringing the total number of bags to 202 and gross weight of both to 8,852 kilograms. Meanwhile, operatives are already on the trail of the drug lord who shipped the illicit consignment into the country.”
He added that on the same day, NDLEA operatives intercepted a Toyota Sienna vehicle driven by one Mukaila Idowu, conveying 88.3kg skunk at Otedola bridge, while another suspect, Joseph Friday, was arrested on Saturday at lyana Ira in Lagos with 58.7kg cannabis sativa concealed inside his Toyota Camry car marked FST 587FH.
“Meanwhile, NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, attached to courier firms, intercepted blocks of compressed brown methamphetamine packaged as soap bars weighing 1.54 kilograms going to Australia.
“The seizure at a courier house in Lagos on Tuesday, May 2, was a follow-up operation to an earlier interception of 3.389kg of the same substance on February 23, 2023. A suspected drug courier, Paul Adetigbe who delivered the previous parcel was eventually arrested with the latest consignment,” Babafemi said.
He also added that the agency arrested some suspects and made seizures of illegal substances in Ogun, Adamawa, Edo, Anambra and Kogi states between May 3 and May 5.