The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended a 24-year-old Thai national, Ms. Pattaphi Wimonnat, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
She was caught attempting to smuggle 43 parcels of “Canadian Loud,” a potent synthetic cannabis strain, totaling 46.60 kilograms, into Nigeria. Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, released a statement on Sunday detailing the arrest.
The statement revealed that Ms. Wimonnat was apprehended on Thursday, February 20, 2025, during passenger clearance from a Qatar Airways flight originating from Thailand via Doha. She confessed to being a hired drug trafficker, stating she was promised $3,000 for successfully delivering the illicit cargo.
In a separate operation at the same Lagos airport, NDLEA agents intercepted 68 parcels of “Ghanaian Loud,” weighing 42.2 kilograms, intended for shipment to London.
The drugs were concealed within the walls of crated cartons in the airport’s export shed. Initially, three suspects, including a freight agent and two dispatch riders, were arrested. Subsequently, Samuel Bitris, the alleged mastermind behind the shipment, was traced and arrested at his residence in Ajah, Lagos.
Furthermore, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, NDLEA officers, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted 49 cartons containing 49,000 pills of Tamol, a 225mg tramadol brand.
This seizure occurred during a joint examination of a 40ft container at the Port Harcourt Port Complex on Thursday, February 20. In Nasarawa State, two suspects, Bello Adamu, 40, and Pius Azuka, 42, were arrested at Kokona/Keffi on Saturday, February 22, with 517 kilograms of skunk.
Additionally, in Niger State, Usman Ruwa, 43, and Yunusa Haruna, 45, were apprehended along Sabon Asibiti Road in Kontagora on Thursday, February 20, with 62.7 kilograms of skunk, transported in a Toyota Corolla.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), the NDLEA Chairman/CEO, commended the officers involved in these successful operations. He emphasized the agency’s balanced approach to both drug supply and demand reduction, praising the officers’ efforts in combating drug trafficking.
