NDLEA Seizes Loud, Codeine Worth Over N5bn at Lagos, Onne Ports

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized more than ₦5 billion worth of Loud cannabis and codeine-based cough syrup at Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos and Onne Port in Rivers State.

The seizures followed months of intelligence gathering and surveillance, with NDLEA operatives tracking the containers from their points of origin in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.

At Apapa Port, officers acting on intelligence subjected two containers shipped from Bangkok, Thailand, to a 100 per cent examination. They found 161 parcels of Thai Loud weighing 124 kilogrammes and valued at ₦372 million. The cannabis was concealed inside two refrigerators and two cartons.

The operation then moved to Onne Port, where a joint examination of two watch-listed containers led to the recovery of 40 packs of Loud weighing 22 kilogrammes. The drugs were hidden inside a travelling bag and three vehicles—a Toyota Matrix, Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Elantra—shipped in one container.

The second container held 109,600 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup weighing 16,440 kilogrammes. According to the NDLEA, the consignment travelled from India to Saudi Arabia, where its original shipment history was allegedly deleted before it continued to Nigeria. The agency valued the Loud and codeine consignments recovered at Onne at ₦833.2 million.

At Tin Can Island Port, NDLEA operatives on September 29 examined a watch-listed container shipped from Montreal, Canada. They recovered 2,595 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 1,297.5 kilogrammes and valued at more than ₦3.8 billion. The cannabis was concealed inside a Toyota Sienna and Hyundai Elantra, along with 24 blue drums and six jumbo bags.

A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the alleged owner, 29-year-old Michael Chukwuememka Uzoma, in Utako, Abuja.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended the officers and directed them to sustain pressure on trafficking networks using Nigeria’s airports, seaports and land routes. The seizures, he said, underscored the agency’s continued focus on disrupting large-scale drug supply chains while strengthening drug-control and prevention efforts.