The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended a 24-year-old Thai National, Ms Pattaphi Wimonnat while attempting to smuggle 43 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 46.60 kilograms, into Nigeria.
Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, revealed this in a statement issued on Sunday.
The statement read: “An attempt by a 24-year-old Thai woman, Ms Pattaphi Wimonnat, to smuggle 43 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 46.60 kilograms, into Nigeria through Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, has been thwarted by NDLEA operatives, who arrested her after discovering the illicit consignment in her luggage.
“The suspect, who confessed to being a hired drug trafficker, was arrested on Thursday, February 20, 2025, during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Thailand via Doha, Qatar, at the arrival hall of Terminal 2 at Lagos airport. She said the drug cartel that recruited her promised to pay her $3,000 upon successful delivery of the illicit consignment in Nigeria.”
In a different operation, 68 packages of Ghanaian Loud that were headed for London, UK, were allegedly confiscated by NDLEA investigators.
The 42.2 kg contraband was hidden behind the walls of crated boxes at the export yard of the Lagos airport.
“Three suspects — a freight agent and two dispatch riders — were initially arrested in connection with the seizure before the mastermind of the shipment, Samuel Bitris, was swiftly traced to his home in Exodus Estate, Ajah, Lagos, where he was arrested,” the statement added.
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Meanwhile, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, NDLEA officers intercepted 49 cartons containing 49,000 pills of Tamol, a brand of tramadol, during a joint examination at the Port Harcourt Port Complex on Thursday, February 20.
The shipment, which contained 225mg tramadol pills, was uncovered in a 40ft container during a coordinated operation with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
Babafemi added that in another drug bust in Nasarawa State, NDLEA operatives arrested two suspects — Bello Adamu, 40, and Pius Azuka, 42 — at Kokona/Keffi on Saturday, February 22, with 517 kilograms of skunk.
Additionally, two suspects, Usman Ruwa, 43, and Yunusa Haruna, 45, were arrested along Sabon Asibiti Road in the Kontagora area of Niger State with 62.7 kilograms of skunk, transported in a Toyota Corolla on Thursday, February 20.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), the NDLEA Chairman/CEO, praised the officers who made the seizures in the announcement, saying that their operational accomplishments—especially their balanced approach to measures to reduce drug supply and demand—are much valued.
