The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 24-year-old Thai lady, Ms Pattaphi Wimonnat, after discovering 43 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 46.60 kilograms, imported into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos in her boxes.
The suspect was arrested on Thursday, February 20, 2025, during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Thailand via Doha, Qatar, at the arrival hall of terminal 2 of the Lagos airport.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi confirmed the arrest and said 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.
Meanwhile, another attempt by a drug trafficking syndicate to ship 68 parcels of Ghanaian Loud with a total weight of 42.2kg concealed in walls of crated cartons to London, UK, through the export shed of the Lagos airport was also frustrated by NDLEA officers on Friday, February 21.
Three suspects, a freight agent and two dispatch riders, were initially arrested in connection with the seizure before Samuel Bitris, the mastermind of the shipment, was swiftly traced to his Exodus Estate, Ajah, Lagos, home, where he was arrested.
At the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers State, NDLEA officers on February 20, intercepted 49 cartons containing 49,000 pills of Tamol, a brand of Tramadol 225mg, in a 40ft container during a joint examination of the shipment with men of Customs Service and other security agencies.
In Nasarawa State, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, February 22, arrested two suspects: Bello Adamu, 40, and Pius Azuka, 42, at Kokona/Keffi with 517kg of skunk, while two other suspects: Usman Ruwa, 43, and Yunusa Haruna, 45, were nabbed in a Toyota Corolla car conveying 62.7 kilograms of skunk along Sabon Asibiti Road Kontagora, Niger State on Thursday, February 20.
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