The Nigeria Customs Service and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a major shipment of cannabis at Tin Can Island Port in Lagos. The haul — 8,347 packages of Cannabis Indica weighing about 4,173.5 kg — is valued at ₦16.6 billion.

This comes just two weeks after the same agencies uncovered another 4,729 kg of cannabis worth ₦18.96 billion at the same port.

Speaking at a press briefing, Tin Can Island Port Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Frank Onyeka, said the operation was based on intelligence jointly gathered by Customs and the NDLEA. Officers flagged a 40-foot container from Canada with the number HAMU 247034/8. Inside, the drugs were hidden in a used Ford bus and a Mercedes-Benz C300 vehicle.

Onyeka said the seizure shows that criminal syndicates are actively trying to use Nigerian ports for drug trafficking. He praised security operatives for intercepting the shipment. “This is a deliberate attempt to undermine national security and destroy the lives of young Nigerians, but the consignment will never reach the streets,” he said.

He added that the command plans to step up surveillance, improve intelligence-sharing, and work with partner agencies to track down and prosecute those behind the shipment.

At the handover ceremony, NDLEA Director of Seaport Operations, Ibinabo ArchieAbia, revealed that the container left Toronto, Canada, on March 28 and arrived in Lagos on May 9, passing through Montreal and Morocco along the way.

She said the seizure followed more than two months of surveillance by the NDLEA Marine Intelligence Unit and Tin Can Strategic Command, working alongside international partners including the UK Home Office, the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The operation was a major win for inter-agency and international collaboration in the fight against transnational drug trafficking.