NDLEA intercepts ₦10.4bn canadian loud at Lagos port

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a massive consignment of canadian loud,a high-potency strain of cannabis, at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos.

The seized drugs weigh 4,173.5 kilograms and possess a street value of Ten Billion, Four Hundred and Thirty-Three Million, Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (₦10,433,750,000.00).

The successful interdiction followed painstaking intelligence gathering and sustained surveillance of the container.

The shipment had been transloaded several times since leaving Toronto, Canada, on March 28. It was moved by rail to Montreal before being loaded onto the vessel Jakarta Express, which arrived at Tanger Med Port in Morocco on April 15.

The cargo was then discharged and reloaded onto another vessel, Osaka, which eventually arrived at the Lagos Port on Saturday, May 9, 2026.

Over two months of monitoring by the NDLEA Marine Intelligence Unit and the Tincan Island Strategic Command, working in close collaboration with the United Kingdom Home Office International Operations, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police led to the seizure on Tuesday, May 12.

This occurred during a joint examination of the container by NDLEA operatives, Customs Service personnel, and other security agencies.

This development comes barely four days after NDLEA operatives raided a Lekki mansion used as a stash house, where they recovered 4,000 parcels of the same substance weighing 2,326 kilograms and worth over ₦5.8 billion.

The illicit drugs were professionally packed and concealed inside two vehicles, a used Ford Bus and a Mercedes Benz C300 stashed within the shipping container.

Speaking during the handover of the exhibits by the Nigeria Customs Service on Wednesday, May 13, the NDLEA’s Director of Seaports Operations, ACG Ibinabo Archie-Abia, stated that the achievement demonstrates the effectiveness of inter-agency cooperation and international collaboration in combating transnational organized crime.

Reacting to the seizure, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers for their vigilance.

He noted that the volume of recent seizures highlights a coordinated attempt by international drug syndicates to flood the Nigerian market with synthetic strains of cannabis.

Marwa stated that this second massive seizure in less than a week sends a clear message to international syndicates.

He emphasized that the synergy between the NDLEA, the Customs Service, and international partners is yielding fantastic results, vowing that the agency will not rest until every link in the supply chain is broken and those responsible are brought to justice.