NDLEA Engages 20 Armed Men In Gun Fight Conveying Canadian Loud

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Lagos State Command, claims to have intercepted a truck carrying Canadian Loud, a type of cannabis also known as Indian hemp.

Canadian Loud is an illegal substance that is brought into Nigeria from Canada and transported here in large quantities through Cameroon, Ghana, and the Benin Republic.

According to the authorities, drug lords frequently attempt to smuggle in the illegal substance by scouting out Nigeria’s land borders or waterways.

The most recent bust, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency, took place on January 10 along Awolowo Road in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State.

According to the agency, the truck was discovered to be loaded with 8,960 jumbo pieces of Canadian Loud, a highly potent and expensive illegal substance, which were packed into more than 100 extra-large polythene bags and weighed a combined 4,878.72kg.

The agency stated that there were about 20 armed men accompanying the truck who were believed to be security personnel and who attempted to use force to prevent the illegal substance from being seized.

According to the agency, when the armed men saw that the NDLEA operatives were not prepared to back down, they opened fire on the operatives, shattering the windscreen of one of the operational vehicles and ramming into the operational vehicle of the agency to create a scene. NDLEA operatives, with the assistance of soldiers present at the time of the assault, then attacked the drug dealers.

The NDLEA spokesperson said, “It happened in the early hours of Tuesday at Awolowo road, Ikoyi when our men were on a trail of a truckload of a drug consignment being smuggled into the country.

“In the process of intercepting the truck, some suspected fake security agents, who were obviously escorting the consignment emerged.

“At that point, our officers had flagged down the vehicle and the truck driver refused to stop. They (NDLEA officers) overtook it and blocked it from moving further and that was the point these suspected fake security agents emerged and ordered the driver of the truck to overrun our men and their vehicles.

“Indeed the truck driver attempted to do that. The operational vehicle of the men was badly damaged and then in the process, these suspected fake security agents started shooting. Their shooting attracted soldiers from a military hospital nearby who came and immediately reinforced our men.

“Shortly before that, our men had also called for reinforcement from other teams, when they saw the reinforcement from our men with the support of the soldiers, these suspected fake security agents took the drug suspect in their own vehicle and fled the scene, and we secured the truck, drug consignment and moved them to our office.”