By IBIRONKE ARIYO

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has intercepted 128 parcels of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis at the Tin-can Seaport in Lagos.

NDLEA Spokesman Femi Babafemi said, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, that the drugs weighed 63.75 kilograms.

Babafemi said that the NDLEA operatives on Friday, Feb. 28 discovered the drugs concealed in two mattresses in the trunk of a Toyota Venza car imported from Canada.

He said that the discovery of the consignment was made during a joint examination of a targeted container from Montreal, Canada, by NDLEA, Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS), and other security agencies.

He said the consignee of the shipment, 44-year-old suspect had been arrested and taken into custody.

Meanwhile, Babafemi said that NDLEA operatives supported by the military on Feb. 27 also stormed a forest in Innam-Abbi/Orogun community, Ndokwa West Local Government in Delta and destroyed over 50,000kg of cannabis on a 20-hectare farm land.

“Five suspects arrested during the raid,” he said.

In another operation in Delta, NDLEA operatives on Feb. 28 intercepted a Mercedes Benz truck marked AWK 791 ZJ along Abraka-Orogun road.

“A search of the truck led to the recovery of 101 bags of skunk with a total weight of 1,111kg.

“In Edo state, NDLEA officers supported by the military on March 1, raided the Okpuje community in Owan West Local Government and destroyed over 100 jumbo bags of skunk in warehouses.

“They also recovered a total of 1,409.5kg of the psychoactive substance for the prosecution of arrested suspects,” he said.

In the same vein, Babafemi said that a suspect, names withheld, was arrested with 58.5 kilograms of skunk at the Ibadan end of the Lagos – Ibadan expressway, Oyo state.

The NDLEA operatives in Kwara on Feb. 24 nabbed a Beninoise, with 2,980 tablets of tramadol and dozens of diazepam pills at Eiyenkorin Expressway, Ilorin.

Also, In Osun, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Ibadan/ Gbongan expressway on Feb. 27 intercepted a consignment of 1.05kg skunk concealed in detergent soap and biscuit carton.

He said that In Borno, a 50-year-old man was arrested by NDLEA operatives with 31kg of skunk, 1,000 pills of tramadol and N720,000 suspected to be proceeds from the drugs on Bama Road, Maiduguri on Feb. 26, among others.

Babafemi quoted the NDLEA Chief, retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa as commending the operatives of the agency for their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country. (NAN)