Adrienne Munju, a 41-year-old Canadian lady, was arrested by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) agents at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for importing a huge consignment of a potent type of synthetic cannabis known as ‘Canadian Loud’.
On October 3, 2024, the suspect was detained during the inbound clearance of passengers on a KLM airline flight from Canada at Lagos International Airport’s Terminal 1.
According to a statement made on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, Adrienne, who was in Nigeria for the first time, was discovered with 74 packets of the illicit material totalling 35.20 kilogrammes stuffed in two of her three suitcases.
“In her statement, she claimed she was recruited to traffic the consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successful delivery in Lagos. She said she took the offer because she needed the money to pay for her ongoing master’s degree program in Canada,” he added.
Babafemi further stated that 13,298,000 opioid pills, including Tramadol, Tramaking Quick Action Tramadol, Tamol-X, Royal Tapentadol, and Carisoprodol, as well as 338,253 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup valued over N9,017,771,000, were discovered at the Port Harcourt Ports Onne in Rivers State.
He added, “The opioids were recovered in three containers coming from India, targeted by the NDLEA during a 100% joint examination of the cargoes with men of the Nigerian Customs and other port stakeholders on October 2 and 3, 2024.”
Similarly, Babafemi stated that on October 3, 100 shipments of Canadian Loud weighing 50 kg were intercepted at Lagos’ Tincan seaport by NDLEA operatives. He stated that the package was bundled in 20 parcels, each in five giant bags, and placed in a container with four imported autos from Canada.
He said, “Though the container had earlier been cleared out of the ESS Libra Bonded Terminal in Ikorodu based on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives were able to trace it to a warehouse in Ikorodu where the illicit consignments were discovered in one of the imported vehicles, a Toyota Sienna bus.
“A suspect, Abubakar Shuaibu Ibrahim, has already been taken into custody in connection with the seizure.”
In Taraba, he stated that on October 3, NDLEA officers apprehended a commercial bus bearing the number JAL 198 YQ travelling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Jalingo.
He also revealed that 80 blocks of cannabis totalling 38 kg were discovered stashed in garri bags throughout the state.
“Large quantities of opioids: tramadol, rohypnol, and codeine-based syrup concealed in the body compartments of the vehicle were recovered when it was searched, while two suspects, Pako Thomas and Emmanuel Anyigor, were arrested. Another suspect, Chibuzor Okafor, was arrested at Wukari on Wednesday, October 2, with 80 blocks of cannabis weighing 38 kg hidden in bags of garri,” the statement added.
He stated that a suspect named Bolanle Ajenifuja was apprehended on Friday, October 4, in Afo, the media area of Ojo, Lagos.
Babafemi stated that 700 litres of skuchies, a combination of local chapman and a cocktail of illicit narcotics, were recovered from her, and three suspects, Ezekiel Akpele, Elijah Michael, and Goddard John, were apprehended.
“On the same day, NDLEA operatives raided two cannabis farms located at Bridge Camp, a boundary community between Edo and Ondo states. Not less than 9,966.332 kg of the substance was destroyed on over three hectares of farmland, with 48 kg of the already processed psychoactive substance recovered,” the statement added.
