Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a massive consignment of “Canadian Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 4,173.5 kilograms and valued at over N10.4 billion at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos.
The anti-narcotics agency’s Head of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, made this known on Wednesday.
According to him, the seizure followed months of intelligence gathering, surveillance, and tracking of the shipment, which originated from Toronto, Canada, on March 28 before being transported by rail to Montreal for onward shipment to Morocco and eventually Nigeria.
The latest interception comes barely four days after NDLEA operatives uncovered another stash of the same psychoactive substance at a mansion in Lekki, Lagos, where 2,326 kilograms valued at over N5.8 billion were recovered.
The agency said that the container arrived at the Lagos Port on May 9 aboard the vessel Osaka voyage after multiple transloading operations across international routes.
The operation, coordinated by the NDLEA’s Marine Intelligence Unit and Tincan Island Strategic Command in collaboration with international partners, including the United Kingdom Home Office International Operations, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, culminated in the seizure of the drugs on Tuesday during a joint inspection involving NDLEA operatives, the Nigeria Customs Service, and other security agencies.
The illicit consignment was concealed inside a used Ford bus and a Mercedes-Benz C300 vehicle hidden within the shipping container.
Speaking during the handover of the exhibits on Wednesday, the NDLEA Director of Seaports Operations, ACG Ibinabo ArchieAbia, said the successful operation underscored the effectiveness of intelligence-driven enforcement and international collaboration against transnational drug trafficking networks.
Reacting to the seizure, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operation, describing the repeated interceptions as evidence of a coordinated attempt by international drug syndicates to flood the Nigerian market with synthetic cannabis strains.
Marwa warned that the agency, in partnership with local and international security bodies, would continue to dismantle drug trafficking networks and bring those behind the shipments to justice.
