Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have seized a total of 8,852 kilograms of Canadian Loud, an imported synthetic strain of cannabis, at the Eleko beach road in Lekki area of Lagos.
This was after a 30-minute gun fight with armed men who were escorting the consignment loaded in two long trucks.
A statement by the spokesperson of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi said the armed escorts of the truck escaped during the gun duel.
The statement reads “Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives had laid ambush for the traffickers along the Eleko beach road in Lekki and at about 4:51 am on Thursday 4v May.
“Two long trucks conveying the illicit consignments were flagged down but rather than stopping, the trucks escorted by armed men sped off, as a result of which there was an exchange of gunfire that lasted 30 minutes.
“After they were overpowered by the NDLEA operatives, the truck drivers and their armed escorts escaped into the bush abandoning the trucks and the drug consignments.
“While one of the trucks painted red has 149 jumbo bags weighing 6,548kg, the second one with blue colour has 53 big bags with a weight of 2,304kg, bringing the total number of bags to 202 and gross weight of both to 8,852 kilograms”.
The Statement added that operatives are already on the trail of the drug lord who shipped the illicit consignment into the country.