THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 24-year-old Thai lady, Pattaphi Wimonnat, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State, with illicit drugs.
The NDLEA in a statement by its spokesman, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, February 23, said Wimonnat was nabbed on Thursday, February 20, by its operatives who thwarted her attempts to smuggle 43 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 46.60 kilograms into Nigeria.
He said the suspect was apprehended at the airport’s arrival hall during the inward clearance of passengers from Thailand through Doha and the illicit consignment was discovered in her boxes.
“The suspect who confessed to being a hired drug trafficker said the drug cartel, which recruited her, promised to pay her $3,000 upon successful delivery of the illicit drug consignment in Nigeria,” the statement read.
The anti-narcotics agency also said it successfully intercepted a shipment intended for London, through the export shed of Lagos Airport by another drug trafficking syndicate attempting to smuggle 68 parcels of Ghanaian Loud, weighing 42.2kg, concealed within the walls of crated cartons, on Friday, February 21.
“Three suspects: a freight agent and two dispatch riders were initially arrested in connection with the seizure before the mastermind of the shipment, Samuel Bitris, was swiftly traced to his Exodus Estate, Ajah, Lagos home where he was arrested.”
In operations across Port Harcourt, Nasarawa, and Niger States, the NDLEA intercepted 49 cartons containing 49,000 pills of Tamol, a brand of Tramadol 225mg, in a 40ft container and arrested four suspects.
The ICIR reports that the NDLEA arrested 14,480 drug traffickers and seized 2.4 million kilogrammes of illicit drugs between January and October 2024 at seaports, airports, land borders and communities across the country.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.