Posted by By WALTER UKAEGBU on
Less than three months after the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) handed over the Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports to private operators, security agencies at the Tin Can Port have impounded a container load of cocaine with a street value of N12 billion.
Less than three months after the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) handed over the Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports to private operators, security agencies at the Tin Can Port have impounded a container load of cocaine with a street value of N12 billion.
The catch was the outcome of an international collaboration among security agencies which monitored the narcotic even during its transshipments until it berthed in the Nigerian shores where the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) impounded the haul Thursday evening in concert with men of the Customs, and the Police.
The narcotic which was aboard the vessel 'MV MSC Florianca", sailing from Peru to Bolivia was concealed in bags of cement and freighted in a 1x20 ft long container with the number MSCU 264079.
Other items therein are bags of white cement type used for making plaster of Paris and tiles. The cement bags were, however, mixed with bags of cocaine. Security agencies said though the consignment' importer was said to be resident in Port Harcourt, he may have used a fake name.
Our correspondent learnt that the container, which was discharged at shed 4 TCIP, Sifax Terminal was monitored by international security agencies before it was finally caught up in TCIP port in Nigeria. NDLEA commander at the TCIP told Saturday Sun that the container was transshipped from one vessel to another to avoid detection. From Per in Southern America, the container moved to Cannery Island then to Barcelona and to Duala in Cameroon from where it was moved to TCIP.
The source stated that the American law enforcement agents lost trace of it but Loyds of London gave the Nigerian government tips on the movement of both the container and the vessel.
A frontline shipping company in Nigeria allegedly served as the agent of the vessel.
Checks at the office of the NDLEA TCIP revealed that the presidency has been informed about the development, and has accordingly ordered thorough investigation into the case.
The container was said to have left its port of origin in November 2005, but it was not clear if the reshipment inspectors in the country examined the container before export. The container has been handed over to the NDLEA for further investigation.
It could be recalled that in 2000, the same agent brought in 'MV Clipper Jagale" containing a heavy cocaine import from Brazil.