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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have seized a total of 8,852kgs (8.8 tons) of imported synthetic strain of cannabis (Canadian Loud) in Lagos State, after about 30-minute gun battle with armed men escorting the consignment loaded in two trucks.
A statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said the operatives had laid an ambush for the traffickers along the Eleko Beach road in Lekki around 4:51am on Thursday, May 4.
According to him, two long trucks conveying the illicit consignments were flagged down but rather than stop, the trucks escorted by armed men sped off, as a result of which there was an exchange of gunfire that lasted about 30 minutes.
“After they were overpowered by the NDLEA operatives, the truck drivers and their armed escorts escaped into the bush abandoning the trucks and the drug consignments.
“While one of the trucks painted red has 149 jumbo bags weighing 6,548kgs, the second one with blue colour has 53 big bags with a weight of 2,304kgs, bringing the total number of bags to 202 and gross weight of both to 8,852kgs.
“Meanwhile, operatives are already on the trail of the drug lord who shipped the illicit consignment into the country,” Babafemi said.