Thai woman arrested at Lagos airport for ‘attempting to smuggle illicit drugs’

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have arrested a 24-year-old Thai woman for allegedly attempting to smuggle 45.6kg of Canadian Loud, a strain of cannabis, through Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

The suspect, identified as Pattaphi Wimonnat, was apprehended on February 20 after the drugs were discovered during passenger clearance on a Qatar Airways flight from Thailand via Doha.

According to the NDLEA, Wimonnat admitted to being recruited as a courier and was promised a payment of $3,000 upon successful delivery of the drugs in Nigeria.

In a separate operation on February 21, NDLEA officers intercepted an attempt to ship 68 parcels of Ghanaian Loud to London.

The drugs were said to have been hidden in the walls of crated cartons at the Lagos airport’s export shed.

Three suspects — including a freight agent and two dispatch riders — were initially arrested. Further investigations led to the arrest of the alleged mastermind, Samuel Bitris, at his residence in Ajah, Lagos.

“At the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state, NDLEA officers on Thursday 20th February intercepted 49 cartons containing 49,000 pills of tamol, a brand of tramadol 225mg in a 40ft container during a joint examination of the shipment with men of Customs Service and other security agencies,” the agency said in a statement on Sunday.

“In Nasarawa state, NDLEA operatives on Saturday 22nd February arrested two suspects: Bello Adamu, 40, and Pius Azuka, 42 at Kokona/Keffi with 517kg of skunk, while two other suspects: Usman Ruwa, 43, and Yunusa Haruna, 45, were nabbed in a Toyota Corolla car conveying 62.7 kilograms of skunk along Sabon Asibiti road Kontagora, Niger state on Thursday 20th February.

“With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.

“These include: WADA sensitisation lecture to students and staff of Maku Grammar School, Tapa, Oyo state; Comprehensive Secondary School, Orogwe, Imo state; Jama’atu Islamiyya Secondary School, Ankpa, Kogi state; and Owerri-Aba Primary School, Ugwunagba, Imo state, among others.”

Buba Marwa, chairman of the NDLEA, praised officers for their efforts in disrupting drug supply networks while also focusing on demand reduction through public education.