The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman, Ting Hung Kiong, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 31 kilograms of “Canadian Loud,” a synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria.
The suspect, said to be a Chinese national naturalised in Malaysia, was arrested on May 17, 2026, after arriving in Lagos from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement on Sunday that the suspect was intercepted by operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the airport.
According to the agency, investigation revealed that the woman travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before proceeding to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates with two large suitcases containing the illicit substance.
Babafemi said the suspect, who claimed to work as a caregiver in Malaysia, told investigators that her daughter sponsored her trip to Thailand and Nigeria.
“She disclosed that she stayed in Thailand for two weeks before she was handed the illicit consignment at the airport for delivery in Nigeria,” the statement said.
The anti-narcotics agency also announced the recovery of a major consignment of opioids at the import shed of the Lagos airport.
It said the shipment, which arrived from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, contained 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at N2.19 billion.
The agency said the 29 cartons of the controlled drug were handed over to NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service on May 22 after days of surveillance and monitoring.
In Enugu, NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport intercepted a suspect identified as Onyeka Valentine Emeka during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The agency said the suspect was placed under observation and later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine.
Similarly, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy, via Addis Ababa.
NDLEA said a search of his luggage uncovered 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg concealed in a carton wrapped with foil papers.
The agency also intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA, popularly known as Ecstasy, hidden inside a bicycle luggage carrier and destined for the Netherlands.
It added that 66 pills of Tramadol 225mg concealed in a soap container and 18 tablets hidden inside a body cream container were intercepted at a Lagos courier facility while being prepared for shipment to the United States and the United Kingdom respectively.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives raided Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area where they recovered 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489kg as well as cannabis seeds weighing 9kg.
In Kano State, operatives arrested a 30-year-old suspect, Isah Sani, along the Zaria-Kano road with 196,000 pills of exol-5.
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At the Seme border area of Lagos, officers recovered 59kg of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.
Another raid in Ekiti State led to the recovery of 1,116kg of skunk from a warehouse located in Ikole-Ekiti, while a 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
The agency said its commands across the country also intensified sensitisation campaigns under its War Against Drug Abuse initiative in schools and communities in Oyo, Anambra, Katsina, Lagos, Enugu, Ekiti and Kano states.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s offensive against drug trafficking and abuse across the country.
