A total of 8,852 kilogrammes (8.8 tonnes) of Canadian Loud, an imported synthetic strain of Cannabis, has been grounded by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Eleko Beach Road in Lekki area of Lagos after a 30-minute gun fight with armed men who were escorting the consignment loaded in two long trucks .
NDLEA operatives while on an intelligence tip off had laid ambush for the traffickers along the Eleko Beach Road in Lekki and at about 4:51am on Thursday, May 4, two long trucks conveying the illicit consignments were flagged down, rather than stopping, the trucks escorted by armed men sped off, as a result of which there was an exchange of gunfire that lasted 30 minutes.
After the NDLEA operatives overpowered them, the truck drivers and their armed escorts escaped into the bush abandoning the trucks and the drug consignments.
Confirming the development, spokesperson for the Agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement yesterday, said one of the intercepted trucks painted red has 149 jumbo bags weighing 6,548kg, while the second one with blue colour has 53 big bags with a weight of 2,304kg, bringing the total number of bags to 202 and gross weight of both to 8,852 kilogrammes.
He said operatives are already on the trail of the drug lord who shipped the illicit consignment into the country.
On the same day, NDLEA operatives also intercepted a Toyota Sienna vehicle driven by one Mukaila Idowu, conveying 88.3kg of skunk at Otedola bridge, Ikeja area of Lagos, while another suspect, Joseph Friday was arrested on Saturday, May 6, at Iyana Ira, Lagos with 58.7kg Cannabis sativa concealed inside his Toyota Camry car marked FST 587FH.
Skunk is a form of marijuana; a slang term usually used to mean the dried leaves and stalks of the plant.
In Ogun State, operatives in the early hours of Wednesday, May 3, 2023, invaded a mini factory, where a suspect, Bakare Taofeek, was producing skucchies around Safari Onikolobo, Abeokuta.
Skuchies is a cocktail of drugs combination of Cannabis sativa, tramadol tablets of 32kg category, and cough syrup with codeine, swifnol, and sobo among others.
Exhibits recovered from Taofeek include: 4kg blackcurrant drink (Sobo) mixed with Cannabis; 255 litres of skucchies; 1,880 tablets of tramadol; 735 grammes of Cannabis; three deep freezers; two gas cylinders and two cooking pots among others.
While commending the officers and men of Lagos, Ogun, Adamawa, Edo, Kogi and Anambra Commands of the Agency as well as those of DOGI for their vigilance and professionalism, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (Retd), encouraged them to do more in crubing the spread of drugs in the country.
