The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has intercepted a consignment of cannabis cleverly concealed in sachets of moi-moi, a popular Nigerian steamed bean pudding.
The suspect, identified as Chidi Agbafo, was apprehended along the Epe-Ajah expressway in Lagos on Wednesday while traveling on a commercial bus.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the suspect was found with 21.7 kilograms of colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, and 3.8 litres of codeine-based syrup, which he was allegedly transporting to Warri and Oghara in Delta State.
In another bust, the agency arrested a Chinese businessman, Liang Tak You, at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on July 25.
Babafemi said, “The suspect, who arrived from Bangkok via Dubai on an Emirates flight, is a naturalised Malaysian resident. He picked up two suitcases in Thailand containing 50 parcels of loud, a potent cannabis strain weighing 26.10kg, and brought them into Nigeria through the UAE.”
“Upon his arrival at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives who were tracking his movement from his port of departure allowed him to pass through the necessary protocols before picking him up on his way out of the airport,” the statement read.
In Calabar, Cross River State, NDLEA operatives arrested 80-year-old Grace Ekpeme at Edet-Nsa Street, Base Site, Calabar South, on July 26 with over 3kg of skunk following intelligence on her alleged drug dealings.
Babafemi also revealed that NDLEA agents, in collaboration with Customs and other security agencies, uncovered 101kg of Canadian loud concealed in two Toyota Sienna vehicles within a container that arrived at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos. The drugs were factory-packed in 202 tins labeled as “Bean Salad Mix.”
In yet another seizure, operatives intercepted a total of 71,000 pills of tramadol, diazepam, and exol-5 from one Usman Musa along the Abuja-Kaduna highway on July 23. He was traveling on a commercial bus headed for Kano.
In Borno State, NDLEA officers arrested 30-year-old Binta Usman at her residence in Muna Moforo area of Maiduguri, recovering 30.1kg of skunk on July 23. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of her alleged accomplice, Bala Abdullahi, in the same area two days later.
Meanwhile, three brothers — Nanna Ozirinye, Chizom Ozirinye, and Maxwell Ozirinye — were arrested on July 26 during a raid on a cannabis plantation in Bending Corner Forest, Idoani, Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State.
“Operatives destroyed 2,500 kilograms of skunk cultivated on a hectare of land and recovered an additional 121.4kg of the same substance,” Babafemi stated.