NDLEA Intercepts ₦10.4bn Worth Of Canadian Loud At Lagos Port

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized a large shipment of Canadian Loud, a high-potency strain of cannabis, weighing 4,173.5 kilograms at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos.

In a statement released on Wednesday, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said the drugs are worth more than ₦10.4 billion on the street.

Babafemi explained that the operation followed weeks of intelligence gathering, close monitoring, and tracking of the container carrying the drugs.

According to him, the shipment began its journey from Toronto, Canada, on March 28 and was moved through different locations before arriving in Nigeria.

The statement partly read, “Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a large consignment of Canadian Loud, a high-potency strain of cannabis, weighing 4,173.5 kilogrammes, with a street value of Ten Billion Four Hundred and Thirty-Three Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N10, 433, 750,000.00) only at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos.”

“The successful interdiction of the illicit drug consignment followed painstaking intelligence gathering, sustained surveillance, and trailing of the container, which was transloaded a number of times since it left Toronto, Canada, on 28th March, conveyed through rails to Montreal, where it was loaded on board a vessel, Jakarta Express voyage, which arrived Tanger Med Port in Morocco on 15th April, discharged and reloaded on another vessel, Osaka voyage, which eventually arrived the Lagos port on Saturday, 9 May 2026.

“The over two months of monitoring the shipment by the Marine Intelligence Unit of NDLEA and the Tincan Island Strategic Command of the agency, working in close collaboration with international partners, particularly the United Kingdom Home Office International Operations, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, culminated in the eventual seizure of the consignment on Tuesday, 12 May during a joint examination of the container by NDLEA operatives, men of the Customs Service and other security agencies.”

The NDLEA said the cannabis was hidden inside two vehicles — a used Ford bus and a Mercedes-Benz C300 car — that were packed inside the shipping container.

The latest seizure came only days after NDLEA operatives reportedly discovered another stash of the same substance at a mansion in Lekki, Lagos.

During that raid, the agency recovered 4,000 parcels of the drug weighing 2,326 kilograms, with an estimated street value of more than ₦5.8 billion.

Speaking during the handover of the seized drugs by the Nigeria Customs Service in Lagos, NDLEA Director of Seaports Operations, ACG Ibinabo Archie-Abia, said the successful operation showed the importance of intelligence sharing and cooperation among security agencies in fighting organised international crime.

Reacting to the development, NDLEA chairman Mohamed Marwa praised officers involved in the operation for their professionalism.

Marwa said the recent seizures suggest that international drug trafficking groups are making coordinated efforts to use Nigerian ports to smuggle synthetic cannabis into the country.

“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 Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the UK-HOIO and the US DEA is yielding fantastic results.

“We will not rest until every link in this supply chain is broken and those behind these shipments are brought to justice,” Marwa stated.

KanyiDaily recalls that the NDLEA recently announced the arrest of Uzoma Valentine Ilomuanya, a wanted drug trafficker who had been evading authorities for over 15 years.