National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) operatives have intercepted 4,173.5 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud, a high potency strain of cannabis, at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos.
The agency was quoted to have said that the illegal consignment had an estimated street value of N10.43bn.
This was disclosed in a statement Wednesday by the Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi.
The seizure followed intelligence gathering, surveillance and tracking of the container from Toronto, Canada, the agency said.
The container, which reportedly left Toronto on March 28, was moved by rail to Montreal and put on a vessel, Jakarta Express Voyage.
It arrived at the port of Tanger Med in Morocco on April 15, where it was discharged and reloaded on another vessel, Osaka Voyage before arriving at the port of Lagos on May 9, 2026.
The consignment was seized on Tuesday, May 12, during a joint examination by operatives of NDLEA, Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, the agency said.
Drugs Concealed In Vehicles
The agency said the consignments were hidden inside two vehicles, a used Ford bus and a Mercedes-Benz C300, stashed within the shipping container.
The Director of Seaports Operations, NDLEA, ACG Ibinabo Archie-Abia, said the operation showed the value of inter-agency and international collaboration.
She said the “achievement once again demonstrates the effectiveness of inter-agency cooperation, international collaboration and intelligence-driven operations in combating transnational organised crime and illicit drug trafficking.”
The Chairman of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), congratulated officers of the Tin Can Command and the Marine Intelligence Unit for their vigilance and professionalism.
He said that the volume of recent seizures indicated a coordinated effort by international drug syndicates to flood the Nigerian market with synthetic strains of cannabis.
“This second massive seizure in less than a week is a clear message to the international syndicates who think they can use our ports as entry points for their soul-destroying trade, that the synergy between NDLEA and Customs Service, as well as other security agencies and our international partners like the Canadian Royal Mounted Police, the UK-HOIO and the US DEA is yielding fantastic results,” Marwa said.
“We will not rest until all links in this supply chain are broken and those behind these shipments are brought to justice.”
