Illicit Drug Consignment Packaged as Green Tea Intercepted At Lagos Airport

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NO fewer than 66 parcels of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, packaged as green tea, have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.

The seizure, made on Thursday, 5th June 2025, followed credible intelligence received ahead of the consignment’s arrival at the cargo wing of the airport on 11th May.

The NDLEA had placed the shipment on a watchlist and maintained surveillance on it for over three weeks before inviting other stakeholders for a joint examination last Thursday.

The Loud consignment, weighing 62.20kg, was concealed inside wraps of green tea and originated from Thailand via the UAE on an Emirates Airlines flight.

In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Monday, 2nd June, intercepted a consignment of 1,665kg of skunk—another strain of cannabis—along the Lekki-Ajah expressway.

Two suspects, Gidado Abdulrasaq Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi, were promptly arrested in connection with the seizure.

In Kaduna, operatives of the state command of the NDLEA, while on patrol along the Abuja–Kaduna expressway on Tuesday, 3rd June, arrested 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka with 612 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 2,970 pills of flunitrazepam.

In another operation on the same day, a 52-year-old wanted drug dealer, Kabiru Musa (a.k.a. KB), was arrested at Kurmin Mashi.

A total of 25.7kg of skunk had earlier been recovered from his base.

Meanwhile, a total of 9kg of Loud was recovered from the spare tyre compartment of an Audi station wagon, marked AAA 975 XU, driven by 45-year-old Atari Israel along Auchi Road, Edo State.

In a separate operation on Tuesday, 3rd June, two young women—Favour Joy and Joy Igwe—were apprehended in the Ikpoba Hill area of Benin City.

Items recovered from them included 106.57kg of skunk, 1kg of Loud, 800 grams of Colorado, and 302 grams of methamphetamine.

The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy initiatives by NDLEA Commands also continued across the country over the past week.

Highlights included WADA sensitisation lectures delivered to students and staff of Sir Usman Nagogo College of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Katsina; Fountain of Knowledge International Academy, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; Prof. Eyo Ita Municipal Model Primary School, Calabar, Cross River; Millennium High School, Egbeda, Lagos; and Community Secondary School, Ichida Anaocha, Anambra.

Additionally, the Zone 13 Command of the NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Amayanabo of Nembe Kingdom, Dr Edmund Dakoru, Mingi XII, in Nembe, Bayelsa State, among others.

Commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Kaduna, and Edo Commands for their recent arrests and seizures, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), also praised their counterparts in commands across the country for maintaining a fair balance between drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.