Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a 24-year-old Thai lady, Ms Pattaphi Wimonnat, for attempting to smuggle 43 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 46.60 kilograms into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
She was arrested on February 20 during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Thailand via Doha, Qatar at the arrival hall, Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport.
During the operation, the illicit consignment was found in her boxes.
A statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said the suspect confessed she was hired by a drug trafficker.
“She said the drug cartel, which recruited her, promised to pay her $3,000 upon successful delivery of the illicit drug consignment in Nigeria,” Babafemi added.
In a separate operation, Babafemi said another bid 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 thwarted by NDLEA officers on February 21.
“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,” the statement added.
Babafemi also said at the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state, NDLEA officers on February 20 intercepted 49 cartons containing 49,000 pills of Tamil, 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 517 kg 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,” the statement stated.
