NDLEA intercepts N3.3bn Meth, Loud Christmas shipments in auto parts from Canada

By Oluwakemi Kindness

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has intercepted multi-billion-naira worth of shipments of Methamphetamine and Loud meant for distribution during the Christmas and New Year festive season.

The strong synthetic strain of cannabis concealed in automobile spare parts imported from Canada, the NDLEA said was intercepted by it’s operatives, at the Tincan seaport in Lagos after months of intelligence-driven tracking of the cargoes across three continents.

Two businessmen: Nwanolue Emeka and Friday Ogbe have been arrested in connection with the seizure.

A statement on Sunday by the NDLEA Spokesperson Femi Babafemi, said the two consignments of methamphetamine were on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th December 2024, recovered from separate containers bearing vehicles and spare parts coming from Canada and heading to warehouses in the Ladipo automobile parts market in Mushin area of Lagos.

The two meth consignments which have a combined weight of 83.301kg worth One Hundred and Twenty-Four Million Nine Hundred and Fifty-One Thousand Naira (124,951,000.00) while the 867.5kg Loud is worth Two Billion One Hundred and Sixty-Eight Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N2,168,750,000.00) in street value.

He said while one of the containers going to Ladipo market through the Sifax bonded terminal was examined on Thursday 12th December, not less than 5.001kg methamphetamine hidden in a bag wrapped in bed sheet that came in a Toyota Camry car, was recovered, even as a businessman, Isaac Onwumere  linked with the consignment was promptly arrested.

Babafemi added that the other container bearing automobile spare parts checked on Friday 13th December was found to contain 1, 735 parcels of Loud packed in 44 jumbo bags with a total weight of 867.5kg and six plastic coolers containing 87 packs of methamphetamine weighing 78.3kg.

He further added that the seizures were made during a joint examination of the shipments with Customs and other port stakeholders.

‘This followed months of intelligence processing and tracking of the consignments from their ports of loading in Canada to the landing port in Lagos by combined Special Operations Units in NDLEA and the Tincan Port Strategic Command of the Agency.”

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