Thai national arrested at Lagos airport for smuggling 46.6kg of synthetic cannabis

Operatives from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have detained a 24-year-old Thai national, Pattaphi Wimonnat, at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport for attempting to smuggle illicit drugs into Nigeria.

The suspect was apprehended on Thursday, February 20, when NDLEA officials discovered 43 parcels of Canadian Loud—a potent synthetic strain of cannabis—hidden in her luggage, amounting to 46.60 kilograms.

According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, whose statement was released on Sunday, Wimonnat was intercepted during the inbound clearance process on a Qatar Airways flight from Thailand via Doha at Terminal 2.

She admitted to working as a hired drug trafficker, revealing that the recruiting cartel had promised her $3,000 for successfully delivering the contraband into Nigeria.

Babafemi also noted that NDLEA operatives foiled another smuggling attempt on Friday, February 21. In this separate incident, a drug trafficking syndicate tried to export 68 parcels of Ghanaian Loud, weighing 42.2 kilograms, to London, UK, by concealing them within the walls of crated cartons at the airport’s export shed.

Initially, three suspects—a freight agent and two dispatch riders—were arrested, and authorities later traced the mastermind, Samuel Bitris, to his residence at Exodus Estate in Ajah, Lagos, where he was subsequently taken into custody.