The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Lagos State Command, on Monday, paraded nine Ghanaians for allegedly smuggling about 201 bags of Indian hemp (cannabis sativa) valued at N200m into the country.
They were Victor Musa, Freeman Gasie, Adotete Joseph, Moses Sottie, Christian Tette, Kabu Okonipa, Stephen Sottie, Daniel Toyokpti and Kabu Natte all fishermen and Ghanaians.
Parading the suspects at the Command’s headquarters in Ikeja, the state commandant, Edenabu Okoro Eweka, said the suspects were arrested through the support of the Nigerian Navy.
He explained that the intelligence driven operation was done by the marine unit of NSCDC having monitored their activities.
According to him, the items were smuggled through Ghana with the aid of some accomplices.
Narrating how the suspects were arrested, he said, “The suspects loaded the products in a shop with the hope of smuggling them into the country but they didn’t know that our Ghanaian counterpart had informed us and we followed up. From our investigation, the hemp is worth ₦200m in the market.
“The suspects were traced with two of the 17 boats that were recently donated to us. They were apprehended when they ran out of fuel and one of them strolled into the country to get fuel. It was then our officers descended on them,” he said.
“Though it was not in the jurisdiction of the agency to delve into drug matters, but the interwoven connectivity between drug addiction and government’s critical infrastructures necessitated the arrest.”