Nigerian anti-drug agency seizes over 5000 kg of cannabis in operations

LAGOS, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's anti-drug agency has seized more than 5000 kilograms of cannabis in two operations in the past week in Lagos, the country's economic hub, and arrested two suspects for alleged ties to a drug trafficking network.

The operations were carried out in the Lekki area of Lagos between Monday and Tuesday based on credible intelligence, according to a statement from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Sunday.

According to the agency, anti-narcotics operatives ambushed on Monday a white truck along an expressway in the Lekki area, and found 50 bags of the illicit material weighing 2,434 kilograms. The truck driver jumped out of the vehicle and fled in a Hilux van that was escorting the truck.

While on Tuesday, the agency's maritime command, acting on intelligence, intercepted a boat carrying cannabis weighing 2,910 kilograms at a beach in the Lekki area following its arrival from Ghana. Two suspects who were discovered with the consignments were swiftly arrested, the statement said.

Mohamed Buba Marwa, chairman of the NDLEA, in the statement, asked officers to remain committed to the corporate goal of ridding Nigeria of the menace of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.