The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Lagos says its operatives have intercepted cannabis consignment packaged in moi-moi sachets.
Moi-moi is a popular traditional Nigerian dish made primarily from blended peeled beans.
The NDLEA said it arrested one Chidi Agbafo with the consignment on a commercial bus along the Epe-Ajah expressway on Wednesday.
In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said the suspect was taking the consignments of 21.7kg colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis and 3.8 litres of codeine based syrup to Warri and Oghara, Delta state.
In another development, the NDLEA arrested Liang Tak You, a Chinese businessman, at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos, on July 25.
Babafemi said the suspect, who arrived Nigeria from Bangkok via Dubai, UAE, on Emirates Airline flight, is naturalised and based in Malaysia, but flew to Thailand where he picked two suitcases filled with 50 parcels of loud, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 26.10kg before heading to Nigeria via UAE.
“Upon his arrival at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives who were tracking his movement from his port of departure allowed him to pass through the necessary protocols before picking him up on his way out of the airport,” the statement reads.
The NDLEA also arrested 80-year-old Grace Ekpeme at Edet-Nsa street, Base Site, Calabar south, Cross River state, with over 3kg skunk in the early hours of July 26 following intelligence on her drug dealing activities.
“At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, a total of 101kg Canadian Loud factory packed in 202 tins of imported food item labelled ‘Bean Salad Mix’ and concealed in two Toyota Sienna buses in a container that came from Canada, were recovered,” Babafemi said.
“The discovery was made during a joint examination of the container by NDLEA officers, men of the Customs Service and other security agencies on Friday, 25th July.
“No fewer than 71,000 pills of tramadol, diazepam and exol-5 were recovered from Usman Musa by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Abuja-Kaduna highway on Wednesday, 23rd July, when the suspect was travelling with the consignment of opioids in a commercial bus going to Kano.
“In Borno, a 30-year-old lady, Binta Usman, was on Wednesday, 23rd July, arrested by NDLEA officers who recovered 30.1kg of skunk from her house at Muna Moforo area of Maiduguri.
“A follow-up operation later led to the arrest of her accomplice Bala Abdullahi in the same area of the Borno state capital on Friday, 25th July.”
The spokesperson said three brothers: Nanna Ozirinye, Chizom Ozirinye and Maxwell Ozirinye were also arrested on July 26 when NDLEA operatives raided a cannabis plantation at Bending Corner Forest, Idoani, Ose local council area of Ondo.
The operatives destroyed 2,500 kilograms of skunk on a hectare of land and recovered 121.4kg of the same psychoactive substance.
