Operatives of different special units of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted large consignments of Cocaine and Colorado, a strong strain of cannabis, concealed in containerized household items and vehicles imported from Durban, South Africa and Canada at the Tincan Seaport in Lagos.
According to Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA, the feat was achieved following coordinated intelligence and months of tracking of the containers by three special units of NDLEA.
He added that the illicit drugs along with arms, ammunition and sundry military effects were seized during joint examination of the three containers by the Agency’s officers and their counterparts from Customs Service and other security agencies.
Some of the Agency’s sniffer dogs were also deployed to help identify locations and bags used in concealing the illicit items.
Some of the items recovered from the containers include: 1, 274 parcels of Cocaine and Colorado with a total weight of 884.09 kilograms; four pistols; 197 rounds of 9mm ammunition, 49 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 275 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, 14 rounds of 9mm ammunition and sundry military personnel effects as well as some chemicals in kegs.
With the exception of 32.5kg shipment of Colorado that came in used vehicles from Canada, the rest of the items were found in two of three containers that arrived the Tincan port from Durban, South Africa onboard a vessel marked MSC resilient III and discharged on new year eve, 31st December 2023.
In Kano, no fewer than five million six hundred and fifty three thousand pills of tramadol 250mg and exol-5 were seized from three suspects.
In Lagos, two suspects were arrested at Ojodu Berger area with 110kg of cannabis sativa while 69kg of same substance was recovered from the hideout of a fleeing suspect in Surulere.
While over a hundred thousand pills of opioids were seized from a suspect on Thursday 18th January in Taraba state, NDLEA operatives in Abia state arrested suspects in parts of Abia state with 34,200 pills of opioids.
Meanwhile, The War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaign of the Agency continued in equal measure in schools, markets, worship places and others across the country in the past week.
