A SHIPMENT OF cannabis, often referred to as “Loud,” hidden in a duvet which was destinated for the United Kingdom was seized by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
In a statement released on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, said that the shipment had been stopped on Tuesday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos.
According to the statement, two individuals connected to the shipment—Adakole Sunday and Austin Balogun—were taken into custody right away when NDLEA officials found them.
“Six parcels of the psychoactive substance with a gross weight of 3.50 kilograms were concealed inside the duvet,” the statement partly read.
“In his statement, Austin Balogun who is the main agent who hired Adakole, claimed he was paid N700,000 to cargo the consignment to the UK but spent a fraction of the money on export handling charges and the bulk to pay for an apartment,” the statement added.
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Babafemi went on to say that “skuchies” and firearms were found at a hideaway that was discovered during a search in the Ikorodu neighbourhood of Lagos.
When NDLEA agents raided the suspects’ hideout in Igbo Olomu, Ikorodu, Lagos, they found seven litres of skuchies, a new psychoactive substance made from black currant, cannabis, and opioids. At least two suspects, Joseph Oluwasegun Adewale and Biodun Adelakun, were taken into custody, he wrote.
“Other exhibits seized from the duo include: three locally-made double barrel riffles; one locally-made double barrel pistol; one English made pistol; one locally-made single barrel rifle; three cartridges and one empty 9mm cartridge as well as an iron – head axe.”
On the other hand, another operation in Lagos’ Akala neighbourhood of Mushin on 19 January purportedly resulted in the confiscation of 25.46 kg of laughing gas, a strain of cannabis, and 47 kg of skunk.
The operations apparently went beyond Lagos, as on January 20 Auwal Sani was apprehended in the Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State after 50,000 tramadol 225mg pills weighing 36.56kg were found on him, and on January 23 a 26-year-old suspect, Adepoju Taiwo, was apprehended and arrested in Ekiti State with 1.950kg of Canadian Loud.
The statement went on to say, “A Nigerien, Abubakar Lami, 45, with two others: Abba Sani, 35, and Auwal Aliyu, 32, were arrested by NDLEA operatives at Gadar Tamburawa, Kano, while 13.1kg skunk and 125 litres of ‘suck and die’, a new psychoactive substance, was recovered from them.
“In Gefen Kasa, Dawakin Kudu council area of Kano State, a cannabis plantation was located and destroyed by a team of NDLEA officers who arrested a suspect, Sabo Ali Muhammad, 45, linked to the farm.”
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.) reportedly commended the officers involved in the operations and emphasized the agency’s commitment to combating drug trafficking and promoting drug abuse prevention.
