•Ship compartments where drugs are concealed revealed
•Peddlers disguise as port officials as cover up
•NDLEA arrests 3348.25kg assorted drugs in five months; meets owners of shipping lines
As the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency , NDLEA intensifies the war against illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances into Nigeria, drug peddlers and traffickers on the other hand, have devised new methods to import these illicit substances into the country.
This time around, they have resorted to using the sea to bring in drugs which are concealed in different compartments of vessels bringing either petroleum products or other goods into the county.
Investigation revealed that these vessels would discharge the illicit substances and other prohibited goods into smaller boats on the high sea, from where they would be conveyed to jetties around Lagos. Thereafter these vessels would proceed to the ports for berthing .
How Drugs are conveyed by Ships
Findings revealed that packages of narcotics are either concealed within cargo inside a c ontainer or within the structure of the container itself. They are also hidden in the walls or below the floor.
Reefer containers used for goods that need to be temperature controlled during shipping, have been discovered to provide opportunities for hiding packages in the refrigeration units.
Packages are alleged to be placed by some rogue employees working for shipping companies or terminals.
Saturday Vanguard gathered that sometimes, some drug traffickers disguised themselves as port officials and stevedores, marking containers as checked with replicated official seals.
Once a container is sealed and delivered for loading, the crew has no opportunity to inspect the interior.
It was further gathered that drug traffickers also concealed packages within bulk cargoes. On two occasions in Apapa Ports, some suspected crew members allegedly loaded bulk sugar that was later discovered to contain packets of cocaine.
The substances were reportedly discovered when they became entangled within the shore hopper at discharge.
These smugglers also use the ship’s external structure by attaching a box to the hull. Drugs are said to be concealed in the rudder trunk in water-tight bags, while void spaces within the ship are also exploited as hiding places. There had been an instance where drugs were hidden within the core of pineapples.
The methods adopted by drug trafficking makes detection quite difficult. These methods, according to the NDLEA, include hiding the goods in sealed shipping containers that claim to carry legitimate items, sending the goods on foreign-owned ships engaged in legitimate trade and using circuitous routes to make the shipments harder for surveillance operations to track.
Though containerization has revolutionized international trade. But it has also provided ideal cover for traffickers. So many shipping containers pass through the world’s ports every day, unfortunately, only a fraction can be said to be inspected, as some ship owners and law enforcement personnel sometimes take it on trust that what was inside the container was the same with what the cargo documents state, thereby easing the free passage of illicit drugs into the country.
Arrest
Several arrests and seizures of huge quantities of illicit drugs have been made by the NDLEA and other agencies.
For instance, statistics by the NDLEA showed that between January and May 2022, 3349.25kg of assorted drugs were seized in the Lagos inland waterways alone.
This is in addition to the two commercial vessels in the agency’s dragnet for illicit drugs importation.
Also ,on two occasions, 12 tonnes and eight tonnes of Cannabis Sativa respectively, were recovered at Eco Atlantic beach, where smaller boats discharged their wares on the beach.
Apart from Cannabis sativa that is known to be cultivated in commercial quantities in Nigeria, the arrest of pharmaceutical opiates like Tramadol being exported from Nigeria calls for concern.
Meeting with stakeholders
Determined to find an urgent need to solve the puzzle on how huge quantities of illicit drugs continue to find way into Nigeria, the NDLEA met with owners of shipping lines and shipping agencies at Rock view hotel in Apapa, Lagos, Thursday.
Speaking at the event organized by the Apapa Special Command of the anti-narcotic agency, its Chairman, Brig. Gen Buba Marwa (rtd)said that Maritime Law Enforcement Agencies,MLEAs remained an indispensable tool and process for emplacing effective governance in the national maritime space.
Marwa who was represented by the Director , Seaport Operation, Omolade Faboyede, said , “ in the face of emergent challenges occasioned by diverse threats and insecurities, It has become necessary to address the attendant inadequacies hindering the efforts of maritime drug law enforcement efforts of checkmating drug trafficking and abuse in Nigeria’s seaports, inland bonded terminals and designated dry docks in Nigeria.
“The Agency is aware of the global maritime security threat within the Gulf of Guinea ,GoG and the challenges with the various seaports in Nigeria and the sub-region. The shipping Agencies and other maritime fleets remain the most vulnerable sector within the maritime domain.
“It is in the light of the above challenges that the Agency is organizing this critical stakeholder meeting in line with World Trade Organization -Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO/TFA) as well as the Presidential Executive Order (PEO – 001) Ease of Doing Business to facilitate time and cost of entry and exit of goods and services in the nation’s seaports.
“The effective implementation of NDLEA ACT CAP N30 LFN 2004 and the National Drug Control Master Plan (2021 – 2025) as well as the recent Nigerian Port Process Manual Document 2020, will yield the much-needed results. If properly articulated by the maritime stakeholders, it will enhance trade facilitation and forestall drug trafficking in our nation’s seaports”.
Delivering a paper on the NDLEA Act: Legal Implications for Shipping lines and Agencies, the agency’s Lagos State Commander, Calys Alumona, stated that shipping companies were veritable means of transportation and had been used to transport hard drugs in and out of Nigeria.
Describing the meeting as apt, he called for the need for all hands to be on deck in the agency’s move to stop the use of vessels to ferry illicit and harmful drugs into the country.
While highlighting the constitutional responsibilities of the agency to include dealing with offenders or offences connected with illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances, he also urged personnel to put their integrity into consideration.
He disclosed that operatives of Apapa Special Area Command arrested some vessels which seamen were still facing trial at the Federal High Court Lagos.
“ Intelligence at our disposal has it that Baracuda beach, Oniru beach, Dangote refinery beach etc are areas where illegal discharges take place from small boats that took delivery of the illicit items from bigger vessels on the high sea before arriving at the ports. This calls to question the integrity of personnel”.
He, therefore, charged operators of shipping lines and agencies to take reasonable precautions in training and public enlightenment of their personnel,in compliance with laid down rules, by alerting the agency of any suspicious circumstance relating to drug trafficking.
Also presenting a paper on ‘Shipping Industry and Drug Control in Nigeria:Bridging the Gap’ Deputy Commander, NDLEA Apapa Area Command, Jonah Achema , said, “ that the security malady facing the country over the years is not unconnected with the use of the maritime corridor by some unscrupulous maritime operators masquerading as shippers, agents and terminal owners for drug and weapon trafficking.
“Over the years, the industry has become a mode of transportation of choice because of the limitless volumes of cargo that can be conveyed through the waters, compared to land or air transportation. It is this limitless opportunity that ‘illicit operators’ capitalise on to ply their illicit merchandise”
Achema noted that the consequences of discovering a narcotic substance onboard any vessel was a dire one to both the ship owners and the crew.
He said, “ investigations by the authorities will take time, the vessel will certainly be delayed and the crew will be questioned closely and may be detained ashore, before being released ,if the authorities are satisfied none of them was involved in the attempt to smuggle drugs. If suspected of complicity, crew members may be detained ashore in prison and may in due course be charged with such an offence”.
He therefore advised ship owners to always obtain a port update from the vessel’s local agent and carry out a voyage specific threat and risk assessment prior to calling the port.
In addition, he admonished them to always ”review Vessels Security Plan, adopt relevant preventive measures and brief the crew accordingly.” It is important that the master and crew take all possible precautions to limit access to the vessel and monitor the surrounding area adjacent to the vessel while in port, such as: enforcing single entry points onto the vessel and limiting access to the vessel to essential personnel only”,he said.
He also called for the need for ship owners to place a permanent watchman in areas where stevedores or repair technicians are working on-board the ship, as well as observe the vessel’s Close Circuit Television, CCTV system and store the feed for review, in order to ensure all external persons recorded their appropriate details and paperwork before boarding .
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commander of Narcotics, Apapa Special Area Command, Ameh Inalelegwu, said, the meeting was aimed at re-examining ship owners business engagement procedure.
“It appears the shipping line/ agencies are not bothered about the content of the cargoes they bring into Nigeria resulting in false declarations. This attitude of looking the other way has negatively impacted the economy and security of Nigeria. From our investigations, most of you are actually aware of the false declarations thus collaborating with unscrupulous businessmen to circumvent the laws of the country.
“It is most unfortunate that some information on your Manifest and Bill of laden are intentionally vague thus frustrating possible investigations. Like the financial institutions, you must ensure that you have the appropriate identity of those that patronize your organizations. It is our hope that this forum will critically examine the issue of Know Your Customer (KYC)”, Inalelegwu said.
