The Nigerian Navy says it intercepted a drug cartel’s attempt to smuggle 193 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 7,443kg into Nigeria.

The interception was made through the waterways off the Badagry coast in Lagos.

Addressing journalists in Lagos, Navy Commander, Taiye Oladejo, said the arrest was made on March 16, while en route on its ship, NNS Beecroft, Apapa, Vanguard newspaper reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, the navy handed over the suspect to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, for further investigation.

The Nigerian Navy also announced that It arrested a suspected member of the cartel, Emmanuel Asamani, aged 24, inside the large wooden boat conveying the substance.

He said: “The suspect and items were arrested off Badagry coast by one of our naval ships on patrol. On sighting the naval patrol boats, operators of the large Cotonou boat absconded, leaving one person onboard. The suspect hid between the bags of the substance onboard.

“The arrest was aided by effective utilisation of the Maritime Domain Awareness facilities of the Nigerian Navy, that is, the Falcon Eye Facility and the Regional Maritime Awareness Capability Centre in addition to our human intelligence.

“This effort was sequel to the directive of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, to maintain credible presence in line with the tenets of Operation Water Guard in this part of the Nigerian Navy Area of Responsibility.

“From the preliminary investigation, the suspect claimed he didn’t have a destination in mind. The NDLEA will find out in due course. But for the arrest, the proceeds would have been used to sponsor other forms of crimes.”

However, in an interview with Vanguard, the 24-year-old Ghanaian suspect claimed that he couldn’t tell the location in Nigeria where the substance was being conveyed to.

He said, “I don’t know where the owners were taking them to. I was only invited to join them to offload the goods. When I asked if there wouldn’t be trouble with security agents, they assured me there wouldn’t.

“Surprisingly, I saw them untying the small boat inside the big one. When I asked why, they said the Navy boat was approaching. Some of them jumped into the river while others left in the small boat which took only two persons.

“I could not jump into the river because the distance to Ghana was very far. I was afraid I would die. I decided to remain in the boat. I went inside the engine room to hide and slept off. I woke up the next day and walked up to the naval personnel.”

The Commander of Narcotic, NDLEA Marine Command, Paul Ahom, praised the NNS Beecroft’s leadership for the arrest and acknowledged the navy as the nation’s leading maritime law agency in drug interception while accepting the suspect and the recovered substance from the navy.