Authorities in Nigeria have stumbled upon what they said is perhaps one of the biggest drug busts in the country’s history and a Jamaican national is at the center.

Media reports in the African country named 42-year-old Kelvin Smith, who is from Kingston, as among four persons held in connection with the seizure.
Lawmen in Lagos said the other three individuals are from Nigeria and are said to be members of a drug cartel.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), said the cocaine was found in 10 traveling bags and 13 drums.

NDLEA, which is Nigeria’s anti-narcotics department said the US$278 million drug bust took place at a large warehouse in an estate in the Ikorodu area of Lagos.

NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said “agents found about 1.8 tons of the illicit drug and that the Jamaican and the warehouse manager, were arrested in an intelligence-led operation that lasted two days across several locations in Lagos. The four persons arrested are members of an international drug syndicate that the NDLEA has been trailing since 2018. They were detained at hotels and their hideouts in different parts of Lagos Sunday night and Monday,” he said.

Babafemi said it appeared that the cartel was trying to sell the cocaine to buyers in Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world, possibly the Caribbean.