Uche Cecil Izuora
The Nigeria Customs Service at Apapa Command has recorded back-to-back successes against drug trafficking, seizing 4,173.5 kilograms of Cannabis Indica worth N16.694 billion from a container originating from Canada. Assistant Comptroller General Ibinabo Achie Abia, Director of Seaport Operations, announced the interception during a press briefing on 13 May 2026, exactly two weeks after a similar major seizure at the same port on 30 April 2026.
She noted that the repeated attempts by criminal networks to exploit Nigeria’s ports for smuggling dangerous substances highlight both their desperation and the effectiveness of security agencies’ countermeasures. Acting on joint intelligence from the NCS and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Enforcement Unit officers targeted a 1×40-foot container marked HAMU 247034-8 for thorough physical examination, uncovering 8,347 packages of the contraband.
ACGN Abia described the shipment as a calculated effort to undermine national security, endanger public health, and profit from destroying the lives of Nigerian youth and women. She stressed that the vigilance of NCS officers and partner agencies ensured the consignment never reached the streets, preventing widespread distribution.
The Command leader reaffirmed that operations will intensify, with enhanced surveillance, deeper intelligence gathering, and sustained collaboration with NDLEA and other agencies to secure more interceptions. Beyond seizures, she vowed that masterminds behind these shipments would be identified, arrested, and prosecuted, while issuing a stern warning to any port insiders aiding criminals that they would face the full weight of the law regardless of status or time taken to track them.
ACGN Abia commended Comptroller General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and NDLEA Chairman Brigadier General Buba Marwa for forging the inter-agency partnership that enabled the operation, calling it a clear demonstration of commitment to intelligence sharing and national security. The seized cannabis was formally handed over to NDLEA during the briefing for further investigation, forensic analysis, and network dismantling.
She also thanked the media for amplifying anti-smuggling efforts and delivered a direct message to traffickers: Nigeria’s ports remain under constant watch, with every illegal importation attempt facing determined resistance. The rapid succession of seizures at Apapa underscores both the scale of transnational drug threats targeting Nigeria and the growing coordination among security forces to protect the nation’s maritime gateways.