The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted significant quantities of cocaine and colorado, a potent strain of cannabis, hidden in containerized household items and vehicles imported from Durban, South Africa and Canada at the Tincan Seaport in Lagos.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said that the interception resulted from coordinated intelligence and months of tracking of the containers by three special units of the NDLEA.
The illicit drugs, along with arms, ammunition, and various military effects, were seized during a joint examination of the three containers by the agency’s officers and their counterparts from Customs Service and other security agencies between Thursday, 18th, and Friday, 19th January 2024.
Some of the agency’s sniffer dogs were also deployed to help identify locations and bags used in concealing the illicit items.
Recovered items from the containers include 1,274 parcels of cocaine and colorado with a total weight of 884.09 kilograms, four pistols, 197 rounds of 9mm ammunition, 49 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 275 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, 14 rounds of 9mm ammunition, and various military personnel effects, as well as some chemicals in kegs.
The only exception was a 32.5kg shipment of colorado that came in used vehicles from Canada.
The rest of the items were found in two of the three containers that arrived at the Tincan port from Durban, South Africa, onboard a vessel marked MSC RESILIENT III and discharged on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2023.
NDLEA also reported that a suspect linked to one of the containers, UACU 5348336, bearing the 32.5kg Colorado, 41-year-old Akara Chibugo, has already been tracked and arrested by NDLEA operatives.
Meanwhile, two vigilant freight agents and a traveller narrowly escaped being involved in two drug trafficking operations by desperate traffickers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
The statement indicated that the two agents were approached to send a consignment of 1kg of cannabis concealed in tins of Milo beverage to Turkey but chose to submit the shipment to NDLEA checks before processing the cargo.
The psychoactive substance was later discovered hidden inside the shipment.
