Three businessmen, Emeka Nwanolue, Friday Ogbe, and Isaac Onwumere, have been arrested following the seizure of methamphetamine and Loud shipments worth billions of naira. The drugs, weighing 83.301 kilograms, were intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Tin Can Seaport in Lagos.
The drugs, concealed in automobile spare parts imported from Canada, were intended for distribution during the Christmas and New Year festive season. According to the NDLEA, the operation was the result of months of intelligence tracking across three continents.
The agency disclosed that this marks the first time it has recovered two separate consignments of methamphetamine with a combined weight of 83.301 kilograms. The shipments were destined for warehouses in the Ladipo automobile parts market in Mushin, Lagos.
One of the containers, examined on December 12, was found to contain 5.001kg of methamphetamine hidden in a bag wrapped in a bedsheet inside a Toyota Camry car. Isaac Onwumere was arrested in connection with this consignment.
The second container, inspected on December 13, contained 1,735 parcels of Loud packed in 44 jumbo bags weighing 867.5kg, along with six plastic coolers containing 87 packs of methamphetamine weighing 78.3kg. Emeka Nwanolue and Friday Ogbe were arrested in connection with this seizure.
The NDLEA revealed that the combined street value of the seized methamphetamine and Loud was over N2.29 billion. The operation was described as the culmination of meticulous intelligence work.
The first consignment, carrying 5.001kg of methamphetamine, was tracked from Toronto, Canada, beginning in October 2024. The shipment passed through multiple locations, including Montreal, Antwerp, and Lagos, before arriving at the Tin Can Port in December.
Similarly, the second shipment, containing 867.5kg of Loud and 78.3kg of methamphetamine, was flagged in October and closely monitored through various stages, including its movement through Canada and Europe, before its interception in Lagos.
In a related development, the NDLEA intercepted 636,600 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N4.5 billion at the Port Harcourt Port Complex in Rivers State. The seizures, made during a joint examination of containers from India, took place on December 9, 11, and 13, following credible intelligence.
