LAGOS, Nigeria (CHATNEWSTV) — Sixty-six parcels of Loud, a potent cannabis strain disguised as green tea, have been intercepted by Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said Sunday.
The seizure, weighing 62.2 kilograms, was made Thursday after a three-week surveillance operation, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement.
“This consignment came in from Thailand via the UAE on an Emirates flight,” Babafemi said. “Based on credible intelligence, the shipment was watch-listed ahead of its arrival on May 11, and joint examination was conducted on June 5.”
In a separate operation along the Lekki-Ajah expressway in Lagos on June 2, NDLEA officers intercepted a 1,665-kilogram shipment of skunk, a cannabis variant. Two suspects — Gidado Abdulrasaq Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi — were arrested at the scene.
Elsewhere in Kaduna State, 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka was arrested along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway on June 3 with 612 bottles of codeine syrup and 2,970 flunitrazepam pills. The same day, operatives arrested a wanted 52-year-old drug dealer, Kabiru Musa, also known as KB, at Kurmin Mashi. Authorities had earlier recovered 25.7 kilograms of skunk from his hideout.
In Edo State, a vehicle inspection led to the discovery of 9 kilograms of Loud hidden in the spare tire compartment of an Audi wagon driven by Atari Israel, 45. Later that day, officers arrested two women — Favour Joy and Joy Igwe — at Ikpoba Hill in Benin City. The duo was found in possession of 106.57kg of skunk, 1kg of Loud, 800 grams of Colorado (another cannabis strain), and 302 grams of methamphetamine.
The NDLEA also intensified its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, holding sensitization events in Katsina, Ebonyi, Cross River, Lagos, Anambra, and Bayelsa states over the past week.
Commending his officers, NDLEA Chairman and CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Ret.), lauded the agency’s “balanced efforts” in both curbing drug supply and reducing demand through public advocacy.
