Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 41-year-old Canadian national, Adrienne Munju, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.
Munju was apprehended on Thursday, October 3, for attempting to smuggle a large consignment of “Canadian Loud,” a potent strain of synthetic cannabis, into Nigeria.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, confirmed the arrest in a statement on Sunday.
He revealed that the suspect was detained during the inward clearance of passengers on a KLM airline flight from Canada at Terminal 1 of the Lagos airport.
“Upon a joint examination of her three bags, Adrienne, who was visiting Nigeria for the first time, was found with 74 parcels of the illicit substance, weighing 35.20 kilograms, concealed in two of her bags,” Babafemi stated.
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In her confession, Munju admitted to being recruited online and was promised 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successfully delivering the consignment in Lagos.
She said financial pressures, particularly her need to fund her master’s degree program in Canada, led her to accept the offer.
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers intercepted a massive drug haul at the Port Harcourt Ports in Onne, Rivers State.
They seized 13,298,000 pills of opioids, including Tramadol and other controlled substances, alongside 338,253 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup.
The street value of the confiscated drugs is estimated at over N9 billion.
The NDLEA said the opioids, smuggled in three containers from India, were recovered during a 100% joint inspection of cargo with Nigerian Customs and other port stakeholders on October 2 and 3, 2024.
(Edited by Oludare Mayowa; omayowa@globalfinancialdigest.com; Newsroom: +234 8033 964 138)
