Customs seize N74.4m worth of weed in Lagos

dimeji akinloye

April 11, 2018 6:58 PM

Customs said the drugs have been handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further action.

The

The agency said on Wednesday, April 11, that the drugs were coming from Togo and Ghana, two of Nigeria's neighbouring countries.

It was gathered that the drugs have been handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further action.

A suspect is said to have been arrested in connection with the seizure.

"The driver of the truck carrying the drugs was arrested and he has been granted administrative bail", the customs Unit Controller," Uba Mohammed said.

"These are substances that are not good for all of us, anybody that takes such is reported to be aggressive. On behalf of the Customs Service, I now hand over these substances for confiscation and prosecution of offenders", he added.

Principal Officer in charge of the NDLEA Operations in Lagos, Lawal Opeloyeru, received the drugs on behalf of the anti-drug agency.

"We have contacted our colleagues in Ghana to put a stop to stop such menace though it has not yielded any positive result but hopefully it will be achieved because we are also using Interpol to eradicate such problem.

'Immediately we get court injunction, the drugs will be destroyed publicly here in Lagos," Mr. Opeloyeru said.

Legal marijuana use

On Monday, March 26, 2018, the United Nations urged Nigeria not to criminalise the use of marijuana also known as cannabis, which the UN has approved as a drug for medical purposes.

The Project Officer of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Nigeria, Harsheth Kaur Virk said marijuana is a miracle drug allowed for medical reasons by the global body, adding that it is not for recreational purposes.

ALSO READ: Covenant University dropout laments miserable life after smoking marijuana

Virk stated this in her presentation at a one day Public hearing on the need to check rising menace of Pharmaceutical drugs abuse among youth in Nigeria organised by the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Health.

dimeji akinloye