A 41-year-old Canadian woman, Adrienne Munju, has been arrested at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for attempting to smuggle a large shipment of a powerful synthetic cannabis known as ‘Canadian Loud’ into Nigeria. The arrest took place on October 3, 2024, when Munju arrived on a KLM Airline flight from Canada.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) reported that Munju was caught during the screening of passengers at Terminal 1. Upon inspecting her luggage, officials discovered 74 parcels of the illegal substance, weighing a total of 35.20 kilograms, hidden in two of her three bags.
Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA spokesperson, shared details of Munju’s case in a statement.
He said, “In her statement, she claimed she was recruited to traffic the consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successful delivery in Lagos. She said she took the offer because she needed the money to pay for her ongoing Master’s degree programme in Canada.”
Munju’s arrest highlights the increasing issue of drug trafficking as a means for individuals to fund their education or other expenses. Babafemi emphasized the seriousness of the situation, noting the efforts made by the NDLEA to combat drug trafficking in Nigeria.
In addition to Munju’s arrest, the NDLEA made several significant drug seizures during the same period. Over 13 million pills of opioids, including various brands of Tramadol and codeine-based cough syrup, were confiscated at the Port Harcourt Ports Onne in Rivers State. The drugs, valued at over N9 billion, were found in three containers arriving from India.
Babafemi reported, “The opioids were recovered in three containers during a 100% joint examination of the cargoes with men of the Nigerian Customs Service and other port stakeholders on October 2 and 3, 2024.”
Moreover, on the same day as Munju’s arrest, NDLEA operatives intercepted another shipment of 100 parcels of Canadian Loud, weighing 50 kilograms, at the Tin Can Seaport in Lagos. The drugs were hidden among imported vehicles in a container that had previously cleared customs.
Babafemi explained, “Though the container had earlier been cleared out of the ESS Libra Bonded Terminal in Ikorodu based on credible intelligence, the NDLEA operatives were able to trace it to a warehouse in Ikorodu where the illicit consignments were discovered in one of the imported vehicles, a Toyota Sienna bus.”
One suspect, identified as Abubakar Shuaibu Ibrahim, has been taken into custody in connection with this seizure.
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In another operation, NDLEA officers intercepted a commercial bus in Taraba State coming from Onitsha to Jalingo. They discovered 80 blocks of cannabis, weighing 38 kilograms, hidden in bags of garri (a type of local food). Large quantities of opioids, including tramadol and codeine-based syrup, were also found concealed in the vehicle’s body compartments. Two suspects, Pako Thomas and Emmanuel Anyigor, were arrested in connection with this incident.
Babafemi further noted that during the same operations, NDLEA agents raided cannabis farms located at the Bridge Camp, a boundary community between Edo and Ondo states, where they destroyed nearly 10,000 kilograms of cannabis cultivated on over three hectares of land. Additionally, 48 kilograms of processed cannabis were recovered.