NDLEA intercepts drug consignments in baby food tins, clothes, arrests 10

• Seizes ‘Loud’ shipment hidden in four vehicles from Canada

Multiple consignments of illicit drugs concealed in tins of Cerelac baby food and clothes going to the United States and the United Kingdom have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) and a courier firm in Lagos.

The operatives recovered 36 parcels of a strong strain of cannabis concealed in six cartons of tins of branded Nestle Cerelac baby food, with six containers in each package at the SAHCOL export shed of Lagos airport.

The psychotropic substance was recovered on Wednesday, July 31, and weighs 18.50kg.

In a statement yesterday, the spokesperson for the agency, Femi Babafemi, said a freight agent, Salaudeen Suliat Abiola, who presented the consignment for export to the United Kingdom, was promptly arrested.

He said a follow-up operation to Ibadan, Oyo State, on Saturday, August 3, led to the arrest of the sender of the cargo, Bello Motunrayo Folu, at her residence, No. 20 Mofoluwasho Estate, Elewuro, in the Akobo area of the state capital.

According to him, the Cerelac tins were all factory-sealed at the top, while the bottom was tampered with. Through this, the alleged culprits put the substances covered with loose quantities of the infant cereal meal to prevent discovery.

In the same vein, five different shipments of opioids and other psychoactive substances, such as promethazine, pentazocine, diazepam, tramadol, and morphine, concealed in cloths and other items meant for export to the U.S. and UK, were equally interrupted by NDLEA operatives in Lagos.

While one of the shipments containing 820grammes of promethazine and pentazocine injections was going to the United States, the remaining four parcels consisting of over two kilograms of opioids such as tramadol 225mg, molly and NPS were heading to the United Kingdom.

They were all intercepted on Monday, July 29, at a logistics company in Lagos.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Tincan port in Lagos on Friday, August 2, recovered 77 packages of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis from the body compartments of four vehicles: Toyota Highlander, Ford Explorer, Toyota Corolla and Toyota Sienna imported from Canada during a joint examination of some containers with men of the Customs Service and other stakeholders.

The seized consignments weighed 38.5kg while two suspects, Salami Abiodun Sunday, 34 and Lekan Atoyebi, 33, assigned to clear the shipments, were taken into custody.

One Isiagu Sunday was arrested in Mushin Ojuoye, Lagos, on Thursday, August 1, with 1,740 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 174 litres and 1,070 tablets of Molly weighing 600gm.

Also, no less than 50 bags of cannabis with a gross weight of 520kg were recovered in the bush at Isuada, Owo Local Council of Ondo State, just as five suspects were arrested at Itaogbolu forest, Akure North Local Council of the state.

The suspects nabbed in connection with the seizure of 42kg of the same psychoactive substance include Jimoh Omotosho, 63; Donald Obi, 62; Emmanuel Patrick, 21; Kayode Oluwaseun, 39; and John Nsikan, 34.

In Edo State, 22½ bags of cannabis weighing 220kg were recovered from the Egbeta community, Ovia North East Local Council of Edo State, on Tuesday, July 30, while a suspect, Osayede Aghoma, was arrested.

Another suspect, Ibrahim Abubakar, 55, was on Wednesday, July 31, nabbed with 40 blocks of the same substance weighing 19.200kg along the Okene-Lokoja highway in a commercial bus coming from Lagos en route to Kano.