NDLEA seizes 8,852kg drugs after gun duel in Lagos
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have seized a total of 8,852kg (8.8 tons) of Canadian Loud - an imported synthetic strain of Indian hemp, on Eleko Beach Road in the Lekki area of Lagos after a 30-minute gun fight with armed men escorting the consignment loaded in two trucks.
Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday in Abuja in a statement, said that acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives laid an ambush for the traffickers at about 5am on Thursday, May 4.
He explained that two long trucks conveying the illicit consignment were flagged down but that the drivers refused and sped off following which there was an exchange of gunfire that lasted 30 minutes.
He said, “After they were overpowered by the NDLEA operatives, the truck drivers and their armed escorts escaped into the bush, abandoning the trucks and the drug consignments.
“While one of the trucks painted red has 149 jumbo bags weighing 6,548kg, the second one with blue colour has 53 big bags with a weight of 2,304kg; bringing the total number of bags to 202 and gross weight of both to 8,852kg.
“Meanwhile, operatives are already on the trail of the drug lord who shipped the illicit consignment into the country.”
Babafemi further said that on the same day, NDLEA operatives also intercepted a Toyota Sienna driven by one Mukaila Idowu conveying 88.3kg of skunk on Otedola Bridge, Ikeja, while another suspect, Joseph Friday, was arrested on Saturday, May 6, at the Iyana Ira area of Lagos with 58.7kg hemp concealed inside his Toyota Camry marked FST 587 FH.