An attempt by a 24-year-old Thai lady, Ms. Pattaphi Wimonnat to smuggle 43 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 46.60 kilograms into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos was thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
The illicit substances was discovered in her boxes and she was subsequently arrested by personnel of the agency.
The suspect who confessed to being a hired by drug trafficker was arrested on Thursday 20th February 2025 during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight from Thailand via Doha, Qatar at the arrival hall, terminal 2 of the Lagos airport.
She said the drug cartel, which recruited her promised to pay her $3,000 upon successful delivery of the illicit drug consignment in Nigeria.
In a related development, an attempt by a drug trafficking syndicate to ship 68 parcels of Ghanaian Loud with a total weight of 42.2kg concealed in walls of crated cartons to London, UK, through the export shed of the Lagos airport was also frustrated by NDLEA officers on Friday 21st February.
Three suspects: a freight agent and two dispatch riders were initially arrested in connection with the seizure before the mastermind of the shipment, Samuel Bitris, was swiftly traced to his Exodus Estate, Ajah, Lagos home where he was arrested.
At the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state, NDLEA officers on Thursday 20th February intercepted 49 cartons containing 49,000 pills of tamol, a brand of tramadol 225mg in a 40ft container during a joint examination of the shipment with men of Customs Service and other security agencies.
In Nasarawa state, NDLEA operatives on Saturday 22nd February arrested two suspects: Bello Adamu, 40, and Pius Azuka, 42 at Kokona/Keffi with 517kg of skunk, while two other suspects: Usman Ruwa, 43, and Yunusa Haruna, 45, were nabbed in a Toyota Corolla car conveying 62.7 kilograms of skunk along Sabon Asibiti road Kontagora, Niger state on Thursday 20th February.
