THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted drug consignments stacked in a wooden statue and an imported vehicle.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, January 8, the agency said it had thwarted attempts by elements of some organised criminal groups to use various disingenuous modes of concealment to import consignments of illicit substances into Nigeria.
The NDLEA said the consignments, which were on their way to the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, were stopped at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja and the Tincan seaport, both in Lagos.
Photo credit: NDLEA
“No less than 37.5 kilograms of such illicit consignments were intercepted in the past week, with the arrest of 11 suspects in interdiction operations that led to the seizure of almost four tons of skunk in Kaduna, Kano and Lagos states.
“At the Lagos airport, a freight agent Ogunsina Damilare was arrested on Friday January 6 following a bid to export 1.5 kilograms of skunk hidden in foodstuffs to Dubai, UAE, through the SAHCO export shed of the MMIA, while a similar attempt to ship 11.5kg of the same substance to the United Kingdom was frustrated when the consignment concealed in a giant wooden sculpture was intercepted by NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations (DOGI) at a courier company in Lagos,” the agency stated.
Also at the Tincan port in Lagos, the anti-drug agency said a shipment of 24.5kg cannabis indica to Nigeria from Montreal, Canada, was intercepted by operatives, while an N8 million bribe offered NDLEA officers by the importer has been secured in an account for the prosecution of the case.
It added that the importer, Cedrick Maduweke, is still at large, but one of his accomplices, Steve Isioma Adigwe, has been arrested.
Photo credit: NDLEA
“The consignment was hidden in a used Toyota Sienna vehicle that arrived at the port along with three other cars in a container marked MSMU 5082733,” the statement added.
According to the NDLEA, a total of 3,672 kilograms of cannabis sativa was also recovered from two locations, and five suspects were arrested in Kaduna during separate raid operations.
A reporter with the ICIR
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