The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has taken custody of 6,778.5 kilograms of ‘Canadian Loud’, a potent strain of cannabis, intercepted at Apapa seaport in Lagos in what officials are calling a major blow to transnational drug trafficking.
The seizure involved two containers flagged during joint examinations by NDLEA operatives, Nigeria Customs Service officers, and other security agencies, the agency said Wednesday.
Speaking at the handover ceremony at Apapa Port on July 1, 2026, NDLEA Chairman/CEO Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), represented by Director of Seaport Operations ACGN Ibinabo Archie-Abia, detailed how the syndicates tried to evade detection.
Container CAAU 7569127: Left Toronto on April 16, 2026. To avoid detection, it was moved by rail to Montreal, loaded onto the Ghalloy Express, trans-shipped at Tangier Med, Morocco on May 6, then onto the Spartel Trader. It berthed at Tin Can Island Port on May 27, was moved to Global Bonded Terminal, then transferred by water to Apapa Port on June 10, where it was intercepted.
Container HAMU 3246311: Departed Montreal on May 1, 2026 aboard Africa Express, trans-shipped onto Algeciras Express on May 15, arrived Tin Can Island Port, discharged June 4, and moved to Apapa Port on June 22, where NDLEA officers seized it.
Both seizures, recorded on June 15 and June 24, 2026, followed “months of intelligence-led operation” by the NDLEA Special Investigation Unit and Marine Intelligence Unit, working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, RCMP, and Nigeria Customs Service.
Marwa called the seizures a “landmark moment in the history of inter-agency synergy” and said they “send a clear and unequivocal message that we are more determined than ever to dismantle organised criminal syndicates and drug trafficking networks operating within and beyond our borders.”
He warned that NDLEA will go beyond confiscations: “We are committed to identifying, arresting and prosecuting those responsible, to confiscating their criminal assets, and to ensuring that they derive no benefit whatsoever from their illegal enterprise.”
Marwa commended the “dedication, professionalism and courage” of NDLEA, Customs, and sister agencies, saying their work proved they are “effective guardians of our maritime gateways.”
“This success was made possible by the intelligence-sharing and operational synergy displayed by every participating agency,” he said. “It is a powerful demonstration of what inter-agency collaboration, international cooperation and intelligence-driven operations can achieve.”
‘Canadian Loud’ is a high-potency cannabis strain often trafficked from North America to Nigeria and other West African markets, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in the statement.