A 24-year-old Thai national, Ms Pattaphi Wimonnat, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency while attempting to smuggle 43 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 46.60 kilograms, into Nigeria.
The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement released on Sunday.
The statement read: “An attempt by a 24-year-old Thai woman, Ms Pattaphi Wimonnat, to smuggle 43 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 46.60 kilograms, into Nigeria through Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, has been thwarted by NDLEA operatives, who arrested her after discovering the illicit consignment in her luggage.
“The suspect, who confessed to being a hired drug trafficker, was arrested on Thursday, February 20, 2025, during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Thailand via Doha, Qatar, at the arrival hall of Terminal 2 at Lagos airport. She said the drug cartel that recruited her promised to pay her $3,000 upon successful delivery of the illicit consignment in Nigeria.”
In another operation, NDLEA officers reportedly intercepted 68 parcels of Ghanaian Loud intended for shipment to London in the United Kingdom.
The contraband, weighing 42.2 kilograms, was concealed within the walls of crated cartons at the Lagos airport’s export shed.
“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 home in Exodus Estate, Ajah, Lagos, where he was arrested,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, NDLEA officers intercepted 49 cartons containing 49,000 pills of Tamol, a brand of tramadol, during a joint examination at the Port Harcourt Port Complex on Thursday, February 20.
The shipment, which contained 225mg tramadol pills, was uncovered in a 40ft container during a coordinated operation with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
Babafemi added that in another drug bust in Nasarawa State, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects — Bello Adamu, 40, and Pius Azuka, 42 — at Kokona/Keffi on Saturday, February 22, with 517 kilograms of skunk.
Additionally, two suspects, Usman Ruwa, 43, and Yunusa Haruna, 45, were arrested along Sabon Asibiti Road in the Kontagora area of Niger State with 62.7 kilograms of skunk, transported in a Toyota Corolla on Thursday, February 20.
In the statement, the NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers involved in the seizures, stating that their operational successes, particularly their balanced approach to both drug reduction and demand reduction efforts, are highly appreciated.
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