Attempt by a 24-year-old Thai lady, Ms Pattaphi Wimonnat, to smuggle 43 parcels Cannabis Loud, a synthetic strain of Cannabis, weighing 46.60 kilograms into Nigeria through Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos has been thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, who arrested her after discovering the illicit consignment in her boxes.
A statement from Femi Babafemi, spokesman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), says the suspect who confessed to being a hired drug trafficker was arrested on Thursday February 20, 2025 during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight from Thailand via Doha, Qatar at the Arrival Hall, Terminal 2 of the Lagos Airport.
She said the drug cartel, which recruited her promise to pay her $3,000 upon successful delivery of the illicit drug consignment in Nigeria.
Babafemi said another bid by a drug trafficking syndicate to ship 68 parcels of Ghanaian Loud with a total weight of 42.2kg concealed in walls of crated cartons to London, UK, through the export shed of the Lagos Airport was also frustrated by NDLEA officers on Friday February 21, 2025.
Three suspects: A freight agent and two dispatch riders were initially arrested in connection with the seizure before the mastermind of the shipment, Samuel Bitrus, was swiftly traced to his Exodus Estate, Ajah home where he was arrested.
