NDLEA arrests 70-year-old man, seizes N2.1 bn worth of codeine and loud

A 70-year-old grandfather has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with 57.2kg of cannabis in Nasarawa State.

Also arrested were two suspects with 426kg of cannabis in Ekiti State, NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

This is as the anti-narcotics agency seized codeine-based syrup and Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain worth over N2.1 billion at the Port Harcourt seaports and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

“Large consignments of codeine-based syrup and Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis worth over N2.1bn in street value have been intercepted at the Port Harcourt seaports, Onne and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA,” the statement read.

Some of the hard drugs intercepted by NDLEA operatives.

“At the Lagos airport, NDLEA officers with the cooperation of other security agencies on Friday 31st May 2024 intercepted a large consignment of Loud, packed in eight suitcases, containing 320 parcels with a total weight of 164.50kg of the strong psychoactive substance coming from Canada on a KLM flight via Amsterdam, Netherlands.

“The consignment estimated to be worth N960m which was brought in by a passenger, Ughenu Nnaife Francis was discovered at the E-arrival hall of the airport by personnel of NDLEA, Customs and others during a joint search operation by the security operatives while the suspect was attempting to smuggle the suitcases out of the hall.”