Thai woman arrested at Nigerian airport with boxes of illegal drugs

A 24-year-old Thai woman, Ms. Pattaphi Wimonnat, was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, for attempting to smuggle 43 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 46.60 kilograms.

The suspect, who admitted to being a hired drug courier, was arrested on February 20, 2025, during the inward clearance of passengers on a Qatar Airways flight from Thailand via Doha. She revealed that the drug cartel that recruited her had promised a payment of $3,000 for successfully delivering the illicit cargo in Nigeria.

In a separate incident, NDLEA officers thwarted an attempt by a drug trafficking syndicate to smuggle 68 parcels of Ghanaian Loud, weighing 42.2 kilograms, concealed within the walls of crated cartons to London, UK, through the export shed of the Lagos airport on February 21. Three suspects, including a freight agent and two dispatch riders, were initially apprehended in connection with the seizure.

Further investigations led to the arrest of the mastermind, Samuel Bitris, at his residence in Exodus Estate, Ajah, Lagos. Additionally, NDLEA operatives intercepted 49 cartons containing 49,000 pills of Tamol, a brand of Tramadol 225mg, concealed in a 40-foot container at the Port Harcourt Port Complex in Onne, Rivers State.

In other related arrests, two suspects, Bello Adamu and Pius Azuka, were apprehended in Nasarawa state with 517 kilograms of skunk, while two other suspects, Usman Ruwa and Yunusa Haruna, were arrested in Niger state with 62.7 kilograms of skunk.

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