The seizure at MMIA was made on June 5, following weeks of intelligence-led surveillance. 

According to a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, the shipment contained 66 parcels of “loud”, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 62.20kg.

The substance was said to have been cleverly concealed in green tea packaging and arrived in Nigeria from Thailand via the United Arab Emirates aboard an Emirates Airlines flight.

“The seizure made on Thursday, 5th June 2025, was based on credible intelligence received ahead of the arrival of the consignment at the cargo wing of the airport on 11th May. The NDLEA had watch-listed the shipment and sustained surveillance around it for over three weeks before inviting other stakeholders for a joint examination last Thursday,” the statement read.

In a separate operation on June 2, NDLEA operatives also intercepted a consignment of 1,665kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis, along the Lekki-Ajah expressway in Lagos.

Two suspects, Gidado Abdulrasaq Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi, were arrested at the scene.

Meanwhile, in Edo state, two young women identified as Favour Joy and Joy Igwe were arrested in the Ikpoba Hill area of Benin City on June 3.

A total of 108.67kg of various illicit drugs were recovered from them, including 106.57kg of skunk, 1kg of loud, 800 grams of colorado, and 302 grams of methamphetamine.

Babafemi said NDLEA officers also recovered 9kg of loud hidden in the spare tyre compartment of an Audi station wagon along Auchi Road. The driver, Atari Israel was arrested.

In Kaduna state, 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka was apprehended on June 3 along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway with 612 bottles of codeine syrup and 2,970 pills of flunitrazepam.

The same day, NDLEA operatives arrested a 52-year-old wanted drug dealer, Kabiru Musa, also known as “KB,” in Kurmin Mashi. The agency had earlier seized 25.7kg of skunk from his base.