LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency says it has intercepted more than ₦5 billion worth of illicit drugs moving through ports in Lagos and Rivers states, including cannabis shipped from Canada and Thailand and more than 100,000 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup.
The seizures were made at Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos and at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State, after authorities tracked several containers from their countries of origin, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
The consignments included more than 1.4 tonnes of a potent strain of cannabis known as Loud and 109,600 bottles of codeine syrup weighing more than 16 tonnes.
In a statement issued on Sunday, October 4, 2026, the NDLEA said the port operations were carried out jointly with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
The agency valued the seized port consignments at more than ₦5 billion.
Canadian Cannabis Found Inside Vehicles
The largest single seizure was made at Tin Can Island Port, where authorities examined a container that had arrived from Montreal, Canada.
The NDLEA said officers recovered 2,595 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 1,297.5 kilograms.
The drugs were concealed inside a Toyota Sienna and a Hyundai Elantra shipped in the container alongside 24 blue drums and six large bags, the agency said.
It placed the estimated street value of that consignment at more than ₦3.8 billion.
At Apapa Port, officers examining containers shipped from Bangkok, Thailand, discovered another 161 parcels of cannabis weighing 124 kilograms.
According to the agency, the Thai Loud was concealed inside two refrigerators and two cartons and had an estimated street value of ₦372 million.
The NDLEA said both operations followed intelligence gathered before the containers arrived for examination.
Codeine Shipment Traced Through Saudi Arabia
At Onne Port, officers searched two containers that had been placed on an NDLEA watchlist.
One contained 40 packs of Loud weighing 22 kilograms. The agency said the cannabis was hidden in a travelling bag and inside three of five vehicles — a Toyota Matrix, Toyota Corolla, and Hyundai Elantra — transported in the container.
A second container yielded 109,600 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup weighing 16,440 kilograms.
The NDLEA said the shipment had originated in India and travelled through Saudi Arabia.
It alleged that information identifying its original point of shipment had been removed while in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to prevent authorities from targeting the container.
The agency valued the cannabis and codeine recovered at Onne at a combined ₦833.2 million.
No information was immediately released identifying the owners or intended recipients of the port consignments, and the agency did not announce prosecutions arising from those particular seizures.
Cocaine Found in Shoes at Lagos Airport
The port seizures were announced alongside a separate investigation at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
The NDLEA said officers arrested Philip Tunde, 38, as he prepared to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan on September 27.
A search of his luggage uncovered 16 parcels of cocaine inside the soles of eight pairs of trainers and canvas shoes, as well as 195 smaller wraps hidden in the railings of four travel bags, according to the agency.
The substances weighed a combined 4.8 kilograms and tested positive for cocaine, the NDLEA said.
Tunde allegedly told investigators that he had paid ₦16 million for the cocaine concealed in the shoes and that the drugs in the bags were to be delivered to a business associate in Italy.
The agency said he claimed to have obtained the money from compensation paid after an industrial accident at an Italian plastics factory in which he lost the tips of two fingers.
Those statements are allegations contained in the NDLEA’s account of the investigation and have not been tested in court.
Operations Extend to Several States
The NDLEA also announced seizures and arrests in Osun, Lagos, Kogi, Edo, and Plateau states.
In Osun, officers destroyed 20,234 kilograms of cannabis cultivated across about eight hectares of farmland in Ife South Local Government Area.
In Lagos, the agency said officers recovered 209,000 tramadol tablets from an unoccupied property in Ago Palace.
A separate investigation began after quantities of methamphetamine and another cannabis strain were allegedly found hidden inside an energy-drink bottle transported as a commercial-bus waybill package.
The NDLEA said a follow-up operation led to an arrest at Ladipo Spare Parts Market.
On the Okene-Lokoja highway, officers said they found one kilogram of methamphetamine inside a package aboard a Lagos-to-Abuja bus.
A 29-year-old man whom the agency linked to the shipment was subsequently arrested in Abuja.
Authorities in Edo also reported recovering cannabis and smaller quantities of methamphetamine, tramadol, Loud, and other substances in separate operations.
NDLEA Says Intelligence Drove Interceptions
Mohamed Buba Marwa, chairman and chief executive of the NDLEA, commended officers involved in the operations and said the agency should continue relying on intelligence to identify trafficking networks and intercept consignments.
The latest seizures follow repeated discoveries of large opioid and codeine shipments at Nigerian ports.
In April, a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt granted an interim forfeiture order covering 17 containers of opioids intercepted at Onne and valued by the NDLEA at ₦33.69 billion.
The agency has said increased monitoring of shipping routes and the watch-listing of suspicious containers are central to its efforts to disrupt the movement of narcotics and controlled medicines into Nigeria.
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5 Alternative NYT-Quality Headlines
NDLEA Intercepts ₦5bn in Cannabis and Codeine at Nigerian Ports
Cannabis From Canada and Thailand Among ₦5bn Drug Haul at Lagos and Onne Ports
NDLEA Says Intelligence Operations Uncovered ₦5bn Drug Shipments at 3 Ports
More Than ₦5bn in Cannabis and Codeine Seized at Lagos and Rivers Ports
NDLEA Finds Tonnes of Cannabis and 109,600 Codeine Bottles in Port Shipments
