The seizures were made during a joint examination of the shipments with Customs and other port stakeholders.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it has intercepted N3.3 billion worth of shipments of Methamphetamine and Loud, a strong synthetic strain of cannabis meant for distribution during the Christmas and New Year festive season, concealed in automobile spare parts imported from Canada.
The agency in a statement issued on Sunday by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said that the drugs were intercepted by its operatives at the Tincan seaport in Lagos after months of intelligence-driven tracking of the cargoes across three continents.
Babafemi said, “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.”
He said that while one of the containers going to Ladipo market through the Sifax bonded terminal was examined on Thursday, not less than 5.001kg of methamphetamine hidden in a bag wrapped in bedsheet that came in a Toyota Camry car, was recovered.
He said a businessman identified as Isaac Onwumere linked with the consignment was promptly arrested.
Babafemi said that the other container bearing automobile spare parts checked on Friday 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.
He said, “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 124,951,000 while the 867.5kg Loud is worth N2,168,750,000 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.”
Babafemi said that the first container with 5.001kg of meth came under the radar of NDLEA’s intelligence network on October 4, when the preparation for the shipment began in Toronto, Canada.
According to him, the agency 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 on October 9.
He said, “The consignment was further monitored till it was loaded on a vessel on 19th October 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.
“The second shipment containing 867.5kg Loud and 78.3kg methamphetamine followed the same route.
“It came under NDLEA’s intelligence tracking on 8th October 2024 when the consignments were delivered to the shipper in Toronto, Canada, loaded on the rail on 14th October and arrived Montreal the following day, 15th, after which they were loaded on a vessel to Europe on October 20.”
The NDLEA spokesperson said that after arrival and trans-shipment at Antwerp in Belgium on November 6 and 7 respectively, the consignments were tracked till they arrived and discharged from the vessel at Lagos port on 6th December before being moved to the terminal on December 10.
Similarly, at the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state, Babafemi said that no fewer than 636,600 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N4,456,200,000 in street value were intercepted in shipments from India on December 9, 11, and 13.
He said the seizures were made during joint examination of four containers by NDLEA officers, men of Customs and other security agencies at the port following processed credible intelligence on the shipments.
Babafemi said that while commending the officers and men of the Special Operations Units, Tincan, and Onne Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, stated that the operational successes should show the drug barons and cartels that the agency has the capacity and intelligence network to track their movements and their consignments even before getting to Nigeria.
He said they would continue to lose heavily if they fail to back down on the criminal trade.