The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted 66 parcels of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, cleverly concealed as green tea at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi disclosed that the seizure, made on Thursday, June 5, 2025, followed credible intelligence about the consignment’s arrival at the airport’s cargo wing on May 11.
“The NDLEA had watch-listed the shipment and maintained surveillance on it for over three weeks before inviting other stakeholders for a joint examination last Thursday,” Babafemi said.
The illicit drug, weighing 62.20kg, was imported from Thailand via the UAE on an Emirates Airlines flight, hidden in green tea packaging.
In a separate operation in Lagos on Monday, June 2, NDLEA operatives seized 1,665kg of skunk (another cannabis strain) along the Lekki-Ajah expressway, arresting two suspects: Gidado Abdulrasaq Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi.
The agency’s crackdown extended to Kaduna, where officers arrested 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway on Tuesday, June 3. Recovered from him were 612 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 2,970 pills of flunitrazepam. That same day, a wanted drug dealer, 52-year-old Kabiru Musa (alias KB), was apprehended at Kurmin Mashi after 25.7kg of skunk was found at his base.
In Edo State, 9kg of Loud was discovered concealed in the spare tyre compartment of an Audi station wagon (license plate AAA 975 XU) driven by 45-year-old Atari Israel along Auchi road. Also in Edo, two women—Favour Joy and Joy Igwe—were arrested in Benin City’s Ikpoba Hill area with 106.57kg of skunk, 1kg of Loud, 800 grams of Colorado, and 302 grams of methamphetamine.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse advocacy continued nationwide, with sensitization lectures held at schools including Sir Usman Nagogo College of Arabic and Islamic Studies (Katsina), Fountain of Knowledge International Academy (Ebonyi), Prof. Eyo Ita Municipal Model Primary School (Calabar), Millennium High School (Lagos), and Community Secondary School (Anambra). The agency also engaged traditional rulers, visiting the Amayanabo of Nembe Kingdom, Dr. Edmund Dakoru, in Bayelsa State.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended officers for their recent successes, praising their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and demand reduction efforts.
