By Onoja Baba, Nigeria
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 24-year-old Thai woman, Ms. Pattaphi Wimonnat, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for attempting to smuggle 46.60 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria.
The suspect was apprehended on Thursday, during the inward clearance of passengers arriving via Qatar Airways from Thailand through Doha.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, confirmed the arrest in a statement released on Sunday, revealing that Wimonnat was allegedly recruited by an international drug cartel and promised a $3,000 reward upon successful delivery.
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers at Lagos airport intercepted 68 parcels of Ghanaian Loud, weighing 42.2 kilograms, hidden inside crated cartons meant for shipment to London.
Three suspects, including a freight agent and two dispatch riders, were initially arrested before the alleged mastermind, Samuel Bitris, was tracked and detained at his residence in Exodus Estate, Ajah, Lagos.
Meanwhile, in a joint operation with the Nigeria Customs Service at the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Rivers State, NDLEA officers uncovered 49 cartons containing 49,000 pills of Tamol, a brand of tramadol, in a 40-foot container.
The intercepted pills, each with a 225mg dosage, were seized on February 20.
Similarly, in Nasarawa State, two suspects, Bello Adamu, 40, and Pius Azuka, 42, were arrested along the Kokona-Keffi route with 517 kilograms of skunk.
In Niger State, operatives apprehended Usman Ruwa, 43, and Yunusa Haruna, 45, along Sabon Asibiti Road in Kontagora, seizing 62.7 kilograms of skunk hidden in a Toyota Corolla.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers for their sustained efforts in drug supply reduction and enforcement actions, emphasizing the agency’s commitment to dismantling drug trafficking networks across Nigeria.
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