The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has intercepted over N2 billion worth of methamphetamine concealed in auto parts from Canada.

A statement on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said two consignments of methamphetamine weighing 83.301 kilograms were recovered from separate containers bearing vehicles parts coming from Canada.

He said the containers were headed to warehouses in the Ladipo automobile parts market in Mushin area of Lagos state.

Babafemi said one of the containers going to Ladipo market through the Sifax bonded terminal was examined on December 12 and 5.001kg of methamphetamine hidden in a bag wrapped in bed sheet that came in a Toyota Camry car, was recovered.

He said Isaac Onwumere, a businessman linked with the consignment, was promptly arrested.

“The other container bearing automobile spare parts checked on Friday 13th December was found to contain 1, 735 parcels of Loud packed in 44 jumbo bags with a total weight of 867.5kg and six plastic coolers containing 87 packs of methamphetamine weighing 78.3kg. At least, two businessmen: Nwanolue Emeka and Friday Ogbe have been arrested in connection with the seizure,” the statement reads.

“The two meth consignments have a combined weight of 83.301kg worth One Hundred and Twenty-Four Million Nine Hundred and Fifty-One Thousand Naira (124,951,000.00) while the 867.5kg Loud is worth Two Billion One Hundred and Sixty-Eight Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N2,168,750,000.00) in street value.

“The seizures were made during a joint examination of the shipments with Customs and other port stakeholders. This followed months of intelligence processing and tracking of the consignments from their ports of loading in Canada to the landing port in Lagos by combined Special Operations Units in NDLEA and the Tincan Port Strategic Command of the Agency.

“The first container with 5.001kg meth came under the radar of NDLEA’s intelligence network on 4th October 2024 when the preparation for the shipment began in Toronto, Canada, monitored through 8th October when the shipment was received at the rail ramp, loaded on the rail and departed to Montreal, Canada where it arrived and was unloaded the following day 9th October.

“The second shipment containing 867.5kg Loud and 78.3kg methamphetamine followed the same route. It came under NDLEA’s intelligence tracking on 8th October 2024 when the consignments were delivered to the shipper in Toronto, Canada, loaded on the rail on 14th October and arrived Montreal the following day, 15th, after which they were loaded on a vessel to Europe on 20th October. 10th December.”

An 18-year-old British teenager has been sentenced to one year in a Dubai jail for having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

The teenager was on holiday with his family in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) when he met the girl — who is now 18 — at the same hotel.

The teenagers who are both from London were said to have made plans to continue their romance when they returned to the UK.

Detained in Dubai, a group of UAE legal experts, said the young man was charged because the girl’s mother found their chats and pictures back in the UK. The woman subsequently contacted police in Dubai and he was arrested.

The head of the campaign group Detained In Dubai, who recently announced the teenager’s sentence, described the judgment an “utter disgrace”.

“The UK was once the most diplomatically influential western country in the Middle East. Now, we are seeing countries like Canada, Malaysia, Ireland and the US leaving the UK way behind,” Radha Stirling, the group’s founder, wrote on X.

“The Labour government should be ashamed they have not secured the freedom of a teenage tourist. It wasn’t a difficult job.”

She said the boy, who has been held in Dubai since September, would appeal against his sentence and was “desperately hoping to come home this week”.

“I urge young people and parents to reconsider holidays in Dubai where so many people find themselves at risk of unfair and lengthy detention in prisons notorious for human rights abuses and torture,” Stirling added.

In Dubai, if an adult has a sexual relationship with a person under 18 they can be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted parcels of illicit drugs concealed within equipment in Lagos.

The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, shared videos of the seized contraband on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.

The NDLEA warned travellers to exercise caution when accepting luggage or items from others, as they may be unaware of the contents.

“Drug concealments NDLEA officers find these days are enough to make you suspect ANYONE asking you to deliver a package when travelling or collect anything from abroad at any logistics or courier service. E GET WHY. This video shows the latest seizure by NDLEA in Lagos,” Babafemi wrote in his post.