Abuja: The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced a joint investigation with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to dismantle the cartel responsible for importing 1,000 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria.
A statement by the NDLEA Director of Media Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, was released on Tuesday in Abuja, stating that the drugs were recovered from a container at the PTML Terminal of Tincan Island Port in Lagos.
Babafemi stated that the PTML operators had discovered the consignment in an empty container last weekend and invited port stakeholders, including the NDLEA, Customs, and other security agencies, for a joint examination.
He said that after field tests by NDLEA confirmed the shipment to be cocaine, the consignment was formally transferred to NDLEA custody for further investigation on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
This, he said, followed collaborative engagements between the NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa, and the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Dr Adewale Adeniyi.
“The large quantity of the recovered Class A drug is worth over $235 235million (Over N338 billion) in the international market and the global dimension to the cocaine cartel.
“Marwa, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, directed that the agency’s leading international partners be involved in the investigation.
“In a swift response to the agency’s request, officers of the US-DEA and UK-NCA have already joined the ongoing investigation of the largest single seizure of cocaine at the Tincan Port Lagos,” he said.
Marwa stated that the essence of collaborating with international partners on the case was to ensure that no stone was left unturned and every gap was sufficiently covered.
This, he said, would ultimately bring to book all the masterminds behind the huge consignment, wherever they were located across the globe.
