US embassy cable - 02ABUJA1572

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INCREASED DRUG SEIZURES AT LAGOS AIRPORT

Identifier: 02ABUJA1572
Wikileaks: View 02ABUJA1572 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Abuja
Created: 2002-05-22 18:19:00
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Tags: SNAR NI
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS ABUJA 001572 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR INL AND AF 
 
 
ROME FOR DEA - R.FIANO 
 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SNAR, NI 
SUBJECT:  INCREASED DRUG SEIZURES AT LAGOS AIRPORT 
 
1. Since the beginning of April 2002, the National 
Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) unit at Lagos' 
Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos 
has reported seizures of cocaine and heroin amounting 
to 40 kilograms.  All of these narcotics shipments 
were either entering Nigeria from known source areas 
or departing for consumer countries. 
 
 
2. The seizures include: 
 
 
a)  April 7:  The seizure of 820 grams of white heroin 
carried internally by a courier arriving in Lagos from 
Lahore, Pakistan via Kenyan Airways (transiting 
Nairobi). 
 
 
b) April 12:  The seizure of 2.5 kilograms of white 
heroin carried in hand luggage by a courier attempting 
to board a Lufthansa flight for Frankfurt (onward 
destination, if any, unknown). 
 
 
c) April 20: 29 kilograms of brown heroin (heroin #3) 
and 900 grams of white heroin found in unclaimed 
baggage arriving from Bombay on Ethiopian Airways 
(transiting Addis Ababa) 
 
 
d) May 3:  1.083 kilograms of white heroin carried 
internally by a courier attempting to board an Air 
France flight for onward connection to Newark, New 
Jersey. 
 
 
e) May 7:  5.1 kilograms of cocaine carried concealed 
in clothing (body wrap) by a courier attempting to 
board a British Airways flight to London. 
 
 
3. Comment:  DEA's close collaboration with the NDLEA 
unit at MMIA, and INL assistance to the same unit, 
have led to new strategies to detect and interdict 
heroin and cocaine transiting Lagos; these seizures 
indicate that this cooperation is paying off.  These 
successes also underscore the continued use of Nigeria 
as a transit area for South Asian heroin bound for 
consumer markets in the U.S. and Europe. 
JETER 

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