A few weeks ago, security operatives impounded a container of cocaine worth N4 billion from an international drug syndicate that smuggles cocaine from South American countries to West Africa. The Customs and other security agents were shocked by the findings but many observers believe the porous borders, poor economic condition of the people, and the connivance of security agents account for why drug importation remains a lucrative trade. Maritime Correspondent, OLUWAKEMI DAUDA examines the implication, enforcement strategy and constraints.




Before now, it was thought that Nigeria was winning the drug war. But recent development has shown that the country still has a lot to do to stop the illicit trade. Though commendable efforts are being made, they appear not enough to do the expected magic.
In 2006, a cocaine haul of 14.2 tonnes was impounded and the announcement of the seizure inadvertently transformed Nigeria from a low rated drug focused country to a drug transit centre which must be placed under serious international security watch.
Although, the international community understood Nigeria could not consume the quantum of illicit drugs being handled in the country; they know that if so much cocaine could be uncovered from a single port, it was not unlikely that other related drugs like heroin whose price is typically valued 8 to 10 times that of cocaine on American streets, making it a high-profit substance for smugglers and dealers could also be in the country.
A senior official of the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) said: "From 2006 to date, close to 6,000 persons have reportedly been arrested and over 80 per cent of them convicted of hard drugs related offences. But the high number of arrests and convictions has not deterred others from joining the train of drug peddlers. Therefore, the era of innocence among Nigerians in terms of exposure to the dangerous substances and their knowledge has varnished.
"No wonder then that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) described Nigeria in The World Fact Book as a transit point for cocaine and heroin intended for Europe, Asian and North American markets," the official said.
Therefore, one of the major problems facing the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and other security operatives at the nation’s seaports is how to reduce to the barest minimum, cases of trafficking in hard and illicit drugs through the waterways. A few weeks ago, NDLEA made what
many Nigerians saw as a mind-bog
gling discovery at the Tin-Can Island Port, in Apapa, Lagos.
The agency impounded a container of cocaine worth N4 billion from a major international drug syndicate that smuggles cocaine from South American countries to West Africa. And, the N4 billion estimated street value could double if it finds its way to Europe.
The hard drug, which was about 450 kilogrammes and unlawfully imported from Chile, is believed to be the second largest seizure in the country and was neatly concealed in customised floor wood inside a container, which was cleared by the Customs and then taken to a private warehouse at Orile-Iganmu Area of Lagos.
But how did the container manage to escape the searchlight of the Customs and other security agents despite their heavy presence at the port before it was arrested by NDLEA, remains the big question.
A member of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Mr Kola Adedeji told The Nation that the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Finance are also keeping mute over the issue.
"The fact that the 450 kilogramme of cocaine slipped through the noses of the numerous agencies engaging in cargo examination and release processes at the Tin-Can Island Port Complex (TCIPC), before it was intercepted by the NDLEA in a warehouse in Orile-Iganmu, calls to question the relevance of some of these agencies at the ports.
"The agencies include: Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), NDLEA, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigerian Environmental Standards Regulatory Agency (NESREA), Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and Naval Intelligence Unit (NIU)," Adedeji said.
Speaking on the seizure of the container, Mitchell Ofoyeju, spokesperson for NDLEA, said the cocaine was discovered by the anti-narcotics agents after it figured out the major drug syndicate that specialises in the unlawful smuggling of cocaine from South American countries to West Africa.
He also said that the clearing agent and other people linked to the seizure were apprehended to ascertain their level of involvement as all the clearing documents had fake addresses on them.
Ofoyeju said: "The agency is determined to send all drug barons out of circulation to prevent criminal acts capable of disrupting peace and stability in the country. I have therefore called for total security alertness in all entry and exit points. State Commanders have also been placed on red alert to ensure effective surveillance and prompt arrests and seizures of any illicit drug shipment." Meanwhile, the agency’s spokesperson said the clearing agent of the consignment and other people closely linked to the seizure were also arrested to ascertain their level of involvement as all the clearing documents had fake addresses on them.
"Drug seizures at the ports are usually very large because of the relative ease of transporting containerised goods in vessels and the volume of imported containers," he said.
The Chairman and Chief Executive of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said the agency got intelligence reports from its foreign collaborators on the movement of the container, several weeks before its arrival. He said the agency was also notified when the ship that left Bolivia with the container was substituted by another on international waters, before reaching Nigeria.
He said two Chinese nationals, the Managing Director of the agency responsible for the clearance of the container, and the manager of the agency that cleared it , were all arrested by his men in an operation that lasted three days.
His words: "Sometime in May this year, we received information from our foreign collaborators, specifically the American Drug Law Enforcement Agency, that there is a container with wooden pallets in it coming from Bolivia, through Chile to Nigeria. Because of recent experience of concealments in such wooden pallets, we should look at it when it comes to Nigeria. The bill of laden sent to us was in Portuguese. So, we had to send it to experts who translated it to English. We looked at the two addresses given in the import papers and found them to be fake.
"We monitored the movement of the container which was supposed to arrive Nigeria since June 30. But we understand that the container was trans-loaded to another ship, so there was a delay. It did not arrive until July. When it finally arrived, it was offloaded and tagged, which was the normal procedure. It came in through the Tin Can Island. So, we kept watch until it was cleared. The container was said to contain personal effects. Ten days after, somebody came to us and said he was the clearing agent, and wanted us to sign documents for him that it was cleared. I asked my Commander to sign it.
"We got the address of that clearing agent. We checked the address and found it to be fake. Two days later, the clearing agent came to take the container. It was put on a truck. The seal was cut off, indicating that it was free to be taken away. It was then taken out of the port. We trailed it to an area at Iganmu (in Lagos) where after its arrival within an hour, some people driving a motorcycle and a jeep arrived. It was then we contacted the people to know the owner and contents of the container. The people told us that it was one Alhaji whose office is at Apapa that is the clearing agent. We asked them to open the container so that we could know the contents first.
he container was opened and the contents were offloaded. At the time of the offloading, we mobilised all relevant staff that can detect the presence of drugs. We also mobilized our sniffer dogs and forensic laboratory experts. The dogs actually gave us signs of the presence of drugs in the container through their barking. When we looked carefully at the processed woods in the container, we discovered that there were some small synthetic things put in the woods. We brought them out, examined them and discovered that they contained ‘pure cocaine’. At the end of the day, we were able to get about 450.4 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in those processed woods. We took over the contents and those arrested. They were interrogated and through them, we got the contact address of the Alhaji.
"Coincidentally, somebody contacted my Commander at the Murtala Mohammed International airport, Lagos, to know if there was any seizure of drugs at the Tin Can Island. He told my Commander that an Alhaji wanted to know. The Alhaji was invited to our office, and he turned out to be the clearing agent we were looking for. There and then, he was handed over to the investigators," Giade said.
The chairman also described the seizure as a major breakthrough in the counter narcotics war, adding that this is the second largest cocaine discovery at the Tin Can Island Ports in Lagos State.
"The entire operation was intelligence-based and professionally executed. This is the second largest seizure of cocaine next to the 14.2 tonnes made at the same port in 2006. The quantity is frightening and the street value paints a horrendous picture of the illicit drug trade. Apart from the estimated street value in the country the value would have doubled in Europe. The seizure is exciting to us. It is also a wakeup call for all hands to be on deck." Giade, however, assured that investigations are ongoing to get other members of the syndicate arrested.
In his own account, the Managing Director of Jafana Ventures Limited, Alhaji Inuwa Mohammed, said he was contracted by a Kano based Chinese national, Mr Richard Wang to clear the container for him.
He said when his manager called and told him that operatives from the NDLEA had intercepted the container at Iganmu after it was cleared and released by Custom officials at the port, he contacted a Custom official who arranged a meeting for him with some NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport, from where he was arrested. Mohammed said the two Chinese nationals that contracted him to clear the container, told him that it contained cigarettes. "We also told the Customs at the port that it was cigarettes. I don’t know if Custom officials inspected the container or not.
"When I phoned my Custom friend (name withheld), he linked me up with the NDLEA Commander at the Lagos airport, who asked me to meet him at the airport. I met him the next day and he said look, call the actual owner of the goods to come and clear his goods, before things go wrong. I called Richard and he said he will be coming to Lagos from Kano with a Dana flight. Meanwhile, the Commander at the airport had already invited the Commander investigating the case, who told me to tell Richard that he can come with the money to clear the container. They warned me to play along with them, so as not to scare Richard, because he may decide to fly out of the country.
"But before the arrival of the Dana airline flight from Kano, Richard phoned me to meet him at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos. We met and I introduced the Commander investigating the case, as the officer sent to collect money, and release the container. Richard brought out N2 million, but I told him they were demanding N4 million. He then added N500,000 to make it N2.5 million. The officer collected the money and asked him to follow us to his office to sign an agreement on when he will bring the balance. He followed us and they arrested him on getting to the office," he said.The suspect, Richard Wang said that his
fellow Chinese national, Fong Chiusen
who is based in Ibadan, contacted him and told him that his container laden with cigarettes will be arriving the country, and he wanted him to arrange for a clearing agent to clear it for him. He said Fong gave him the sum of N5 million to clear it, and he paid Alhaji Mohammed the sum of N3,610,000 for the clearance. He said Alhaji Mohammed had cleared his goods three times last year when he made some imports.
Wang said when he was informed by Alhaji Mohammed that the container was intercepted by the NDLEA on the allegation that it contained drugs, he brought with him the sum of N3 million and gave Alhaji Inuwa, and the Commander N2.5 million at the hotel," he said.
Speaking on the issue, Fong Chiusen, an Ibadan based Chinese national, who said he has been in Nigeria for close to 30 years, disclosed that the actual owner of the container was based in Taiwan.
His words: "I was in Taiwan early this year. I met the owner there and he told me he wants to send cigarettes to me to help him forward to another country. He did not tell me which country, but he gave me $60,000 for the clearing and forwarding. When the container left Chile, he phoned and told me. I contacted Richard to clear the container for me. I gave him N5 million to clear it. When he told me it was arrested and more money was needed, I gave him an additional N3 million," he said.
But the fact that the NDLEA in company of the Customs, Nigerian Police, the State Security Service (SSS), reporters, among others, ended a wild goose chase at the Tin Can Island Port recently, rummaging through a 20 foot container for possible concealment of cocaine at the port by the same Chinese national, created a frightening image of a country at the mercy of drug barons.
The search was understandable: only five weeks earlier, the importer of the controversial container TGHU 1357324 had allegedly brought in another container in which a whooping 450.4 kilogrammes of cocaine with a conservative street value of N4 billion was found. Yet, the consignment was not the largest haul ever made through the same port. The question people are asking: Is Tin-Can Port a safe haven for cocaine-traffickers? Only time will tell.