Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have intercepted a shipment of 11.5kgs of skunk substance to the United Kingdom concealed in a giant wooden sculpture.
This is even as the NDLEA said 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.
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.
Spokesperson of the agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement, said attempt to ship 11.5kgs 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.
According to the spokesperson, the consignment concealed in the sculpture curiously emanated from Ghana with London as the destination.
Babafemi further disclosed that an importer offered an N8 million bribe to NDLEA operatives during the raid at Tincan port.
The statement read:
“At the Tincan port in Lagos, a shipment of 24.5kilograms cannabis indica to Nigeria from Montreal, Canada was intercepted by operatives while an N8million bribe offered NDLEA officers by the importer has been secured in an account for the prosecution of the case.
“While the importer, Cedrick Maduweke is still at large, one of his accomplices, Steve Isioma Adigwe has been arrested. 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.”
Chairman of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa commended the officers and men of Tincan and MMIA Commands for the arrests and seizures.
He charged them and their compatriots across the country to intensify the heat on drug cartels in Nigeria while balancing their efforts on supply reduction with drug demand reduction activities.
