I trafficked drug to pay my MSc fees – Canadian suspect

A 41-year-old Canadian woman, Adrienne Munju, arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for importing a large consignment of a strong strain of synthetic cannabis called ‘Canadian Loud’ has explained why she engaged in the act.

The suspect was arrested during the inward clearance of passengers on a KLM Airline flight from Canada at Terminal 1 of the Lagos airport on Thursday, October 3, 2024.

A statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said during a joint examination of her three bags, Adrienne, who was in Nigeria for the first time, was found with 74 parcels of the illicit substance weighing 35.20 kilograms stuffed in two of her three bags.

“In her statement, she claimed she was recruited to traffic the consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successful delivery in Lagos. She said she took the offer because she needed the money to pay for her ongoing Master’s degree programme in Canada,” Babafemi added.

Babafemi also said 13,298,000 pills of opioids, including Tramadol, Tramaking Quick Action Tramadol, Tamol-X, Royal Tapentadol and Carisoprodol, as well as 338, 253 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup worth over N9,017, 771,000 were recovered at the Port Harcourt Ports Onne, Rivers State.

He added, “The opioids were recovered in three containers coming from India, targeted by the NDLEA during a 100% joint examination of the cargoes with men of the Nigerian Customs Service and other port stakeholders on October 2 and 3, 2024. “

Similarly, at the Tin Can Seaport in Lagos, Babafemi said 100 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 50kg were intercepted on October 3.

He added that the consignment was packed in 20 parcels each in five jumbo bags concealed in a container with four units of imported vehicles that came from Canada.

He said, “Though the container had earlier been cleared out of the ESS Libra Bonded Terminal in Ikorodu based on credible intelligence, the NDLEA operatives were able to trace it to a warehouse in Ikorodu where the illicit consignments were discovered in one of the imported vehicles, a Toyota Sienna bus.

“A suspect, Abubakar Shuaibu Ibrahim, has already been taken into custody in connection with the seizure.”

In Taraba State, he said the NDLEA officers on October 3 intercepted a commercial bus marked JAL 198 YQ coming from Onitsha, Anambra State to Jalingo.

He added that 80 blocks of cannabis weighing 38kg hidden in bags of garri were equally recovered in the state.

“Large quantities of opioids: tramadol, Rohypnol and codeine-based syrup concealed in body compartments of the vehicle were recovered when it was searched, while two suspects, Pako Thomas and Emmanuel Anyigor, were arrested. Another suspect, Chibuzor Okafor, was arrested at Wukari on Wednesday, October 2, with 80 blocks of cannabis weighing 38 kg hidden in bags of garri,” the statement added.

Babafemi said 700 litres of skuchies, a mixture of local Chapman and a cocktail of illicit drugs were recovered from her, while three suspects: Ezekiel Akpele; Elijah Michael; and Goddard John, were nabbed.

“On the same day, the NDLEA operatives raided two cannabis farms located at the Bridge Camp, a boundary community between Edo and Ondo states. Not less than 9,966.332kg of the substance was destroyed on over three hectares of farmland with 48kg of the already processed psychoactive substance recovered,” the statement added.