Nigeria seizes over 2.3 tonnes of drugs in nationwide raids

Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency announced the seizure of more than 2.3 tonnes of illicit drugs in a series of coordinated operations across eight states and the Federal Capital Territory, including the interception of two shipments of synthetic cannabis from the United Kingdom. The agency, in a statement released Sunday, said the nationwide crackdown resulted in multiple arrests and the dismantling of a distribution network linked to the UK-based shipments. The seizures included cannabis, opioids, and other controlled substances, with some drugs concealed in creative ways such as music speakers and loaves of bread. At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted a consignment containing 27 parcels of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis strain, weighing 32.20 kilograms. A real estate agent, Abideen Jide Salami, was arrested on September 9 after arriving to collect the luggage using a secret collection code allegedly sent by his brother in the UK. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri, 44, who reportedly told investigators his brother in the UK had sent him a separate 12.25-kilogram shipment of Colorado.