Authorities seized 1.8 tons of cocaine from a warehouse in Lagos, worth close to $300 million, on Monday.
The drugs, with a street value of $278.5 million, were intended to go to European and Asian buyers, Nigeria National Drug Enforcement Agency confirmed to Reuters. Authorities arrested five people, four Nigerians and one Jamaican, in connection with the raid, stating that they were part of a larger international drug ring.
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Cocaine seizures have been plentiful this year, as West Africa is a top transit hub for cocaine from Latin America to be sold in Europe. Ivory Coast police seized over 2 tons of cocaine in April.
Global seizures reached a record high in 2020 at 1,424 tons, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime per Reuters. And 2019 proved similar, as Cape Verde authorities alone seized 9.5 tons over the course of the year.
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The Nigerian drug enforcement agency stated it had been tracking the recent drug ring since 2018.
Cocaine seizures in the United States have dropped throughout the fiscal year 2022, which spans from October 2021 to September of this year. In October 2021, 82,700 pounds, approximately 41 tons, were seized in the U.S. In August, authorities seized around 46,000 pounds, close to 23 tons.
