The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1,490.5kg of cannabis, popularly known as Loud, worth more than N4.4 billion in two containers shipped from Thailand through the Apapa and Lekki ports in Lagos. In a statement by the NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi on Sunday, the seizures, made within days of each other, have drawn the agency’s attention to a new route being used to bring synthetic cannabis into Nigeria.
Both containers originated from the Port of Laem Chabang in Thailand, according to the NDLEA. At the Apapa Port, NDLEA operatives, working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies, examined one of the containers on Friday. The import documents showed that the container was carrying dry fish, rice, vehicle spare parts, turmeric soap and inverter batteries.
The contents told a different story, according to the NDLEA. The search uncovered 1,090.5kg of Thai Loud packed in 54 cartons containing 2,181 sachets, each weighing 500 grammes. At the Lekki Deep Sea Port, another container had already been placed on the NDLEA’s watchlist and was being monitored by its Marine Special Operations Unit. It was jointly examined on Wednesday, leading to the discovery of another 400kg of Thai Loud.
The drug was found on four of the seven pallets in the container, packed in 96 cartons containing 400 parcels. The other three pallets held 798 reams of A4 paper, which the agency said had been used to conceal the consignment. The two seizures brought the total quantity of Thai Loud recovered at the Lagos ports to 1,490.5kg. The NDLEA said the interceptions were the first involving illicit drugs shipped from Thailand through Nigeria’s maritime corridor.
The development is significant because most large cannabis seizures announced by the agency in recent months have involved consignments from other countries. On 20 July, for instance, NDLEA operatives intercepted 2,388.5kg of Canadian Loud at the Apapa seaport. The drug was packed in 4,777 sachets and concealed in three vehicles. The agency put its street value at more than N7.1 billion.
The latest seizures suggest that traffickers are continuing to explore Nigeria’s busy seaports and different international supply routes to move synthetic cannabis into the country. The NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa, commended the officers involved in the operations. He urged them to maintain the pressure on drug trafficking networks operating through the country’s maritime corridors.
