The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered a shipment of illicit drugs cleverly disguised as green tea at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the agency intercepted 66 parcels of Loud, a potent variant of cannabis, weighing 62.20 kilograms at the airport’s import shed.
The interception occurred on Thursday, June 5, following sustained surveillance.
Babafemi revealed that credible intelligence had tipped off the agency prior to the consignment’s arrival at the cargo terminal on May 11.
Acting on this, NDLEA agents placed the package under watch for more than three weeks.
The consignment, concealed in green tea packaging, originated from Thailand and was flown into Nigeria via an Emirates Airlines flight through the UAE.
“The Loud consignment weighing 62.20kgs was concealed inside wraps of green tea that came from Thailand via UAE on an Emirate Airlines flight,” Babafemi said.
In a separate operation on Monday, June 2, in Lagos, NDLEA officers intercepted a 1,665kg haul of skunk, another cannabis strain, along the Lekki-Ajah expressway.
Two suspects, Gidado Abdulrasaq Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi, were apprehended in connection with the massive drug bust.
Meanwhile, in Kaduna State, NDLEA personnel patrolling the Abuja-Kaduna highway arrested 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka on Tuesday, June 3.
He was found in possession of 612 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 2,970 pills of flunitrazepam, a sedative often misused.
That same day, officers also nabbed Kabiru Musa, a 52-year-old known drug dealer nicknamed “KB,” at Kurmin Mash. Authorities had earlier confiscated 25.7kg of skunk from his base.
Elsewhere in Edo State, NDLEA recovered 9kg of Loud from the spare tyre compartment of an Audi station wagon with plate number AAA 975 XU, driven by Atari Israel, 45.
On that same Tuesday in Benin City’s Ikpoba Hill area, two women — Favour Joy and Joy Igwe — were arrested. Seized from them were 106.57kg of skunk, 1kg of Loud, 800g of Colorado, and 302g of methamphetamine.
NDLEA Chairman and CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised the Lagos, Kaduna, and Edo Commands for their latest successes.
He also acknowledged the broader commitment of the agency’s personnel nationwide in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
He commended them “for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.”
