Abuja: The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized 12 significant parcels of cocaine intended for the United Kingdom via a Virgin Atlantic flight departing Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
A statement by NDLEA spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi, on Sunday in Abuja, said the drugs were hidden in the false bottom of food flasks.
Babafemi stated the shipment, with a gross weight of 2.80 kilograms, was seized on Thursday, April 16, by NDLEA officers at the Lagos airport export shed.
He added that two cargo agents implicated in the smuggling attempt were immediately detained.
“Further investigation revealed a 52-year-old Freight and Forwarding agent as the sender of the consignment, and he was arrested in a follow-up operation,” he said.
In a related operation, NDLEA officers at the import shed of the Lagos airport on April 8 confiscated a shipment of Loud, a potent cannabis strain.
Babafemi reported the drugs, weighing 2.90 kilograms, were hidden in snack food packs and arrived from the United States on a Delta Airlines flight.
After initially arresting two cargo clearing agents, officers followed up by arresting the consignee, a 29-year-old fashion designer, at 3 Oba Ogunji Road, Ogba, Lagos, on Monday.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives patrolling the Kaduna-Zaria highway near Gwargwaje, Zaria, on Monday, stopped a trailer transporting cement bound for Hadeja in Jigawa state.
Babafemi stated that a search of the trailer yielded 760 blocks and 33 jumbo bags of skunk, a form of cannabis, weighing 847 kilograms.
He noted the truck driver was apprehended. Meanwhile, a 53-year-old woman was arrested on Thursday as NDLEA officers, supported by soldiers, searched a forest in the Uwet community, Akamkpa Local Government Area, Cross River State.
Babafemi said 15,000 kilograms of skunk grown on six hectares were destroyed, and 119 kilograms were seized.
On Tuesday, NDLEA officers raided a cannabis farm at Saboro camp, Ovia North East LGA, Edo, destroying 2,281.43 kilograms of the drug.
Three suspects were arrested, and two others were caught with 38.5kg of cannabis and seeds.
Additionally, two suspects were found with 87.838kg of skunk and seeds at the Powerline area of Okwo, Delta State, on Friday, April 17.
The same day, two suspects were arrested at Mile 2, Lagos/Badagry expressway, Lagos, for drug trafficking.
According to Babafemi, the suspects were transporting 11,900 tramadol capsules and 400 vials of phenobarbital to Ghana by truck.
That same day, NDLEA officers raided a two-storey building in Petti, Lagos Island, confiscating 95.8kg of skunk. Across the country, agency commands and formations continued War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities throughout the past week.
Activities included WADA lectures for students and staff of Alfurgan Islamic School, Paiko, Niger State; Edgerly Memorial Girls Secondary School, Calabar, Cross River; and Heritage Model School, Ankpa, Kogi.
Other schools reached were Government Day Junior and Senior Secondary School, Kankia, Katsina; Government Senior Secondary School, Rano, Kano; and De Ambassador Secondary School, Epe, Lagos State, among others.
The NDLEA Chairman, retired Brigadier General Buba Marwa, commended the teams at MMIA, Edo, Delta, Cross River, Kaduna, and Lagos Commands for their arrests and seizures.
He praised their efforts to reduce drug supply and to sensitise WADA, urging all to keep up the pace.
