The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled attempts by some criminal groups to use various disingenuous modes of concealment to import consignments of illicit substances into Nigeria and export same to the United Kingdom, and United Arab Emirate (UAE) through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.

At the Lagos airport, a freight agent, Ogunsina Damilare, was arrested on Friday following a bid to export 1.5 kilograms of skunk hidden in foodstuffs to Dubai, UAE through the SAHCO export shed of the airport.

A similar 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.

The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this via a statement issued and made available to The Star on Sunday.

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Babafemi noted that a shipment of 24.5kilograms cannabis Indica to Nigeria from Montreal, Canada was also intercepted by operatives, adding that an N8 million bribe offered the officers of the anti-drug agency by the importer has been secured in an account for the prosecution of the case.

He stated that the importer, Cedrick Maduweke, is still at large, while one of his accomplices, Steve Isioma Adigwe, has been arrested.

The NDLEA spokesperson revealed that the consignment was hidden in a used Toyota Sienna vehicle that arrived the port along with three other cars in a container marked MSMU 5082733.

Speaking on the arrests and seizures, the NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), commended the officers of the agency and 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.

The Star