The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman, Ting Hung Kiong, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 31 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Read more: NDLEA Arrests 63-Year-Old Chinese Woman for Attempting to Smuggle 31kg of CannabisTing Hung Kiong, a Chinese national naturalized in Malaysia, was apprehended on Sunday, May 17, 2026, after arriving from Thailand via Dubai on an Emirates Airline flight. NDLEA operatives intercepted her at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall with two large travel boxes containing the illicit drug.
Investigations revealed that Kiong traveled from Malaysia to Thailand and then to Nigeria via the United Arab Emirates. The seized synthetic cannabis weighed 31 kilograms. During questioning, she claimed to work as a caregiver in Malaysia and said her daughter sponsored her trip. Kiong reportedly spent two weeks in Thailand before collecting the drug consignment at the airport for delivery in Nigeria.
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA agents recovered a shipment of 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, valued at over N2.19 billion, from the import shed. The consignment, which arrived from India on an Emirates Cargo flight, had been under surveillance and was handed over by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22, 2026.
At Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on Wednesday, May 20, NDLEA officers intercepted Onyeka Valentine Emeka, who arrived from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa. The suspect was placed under observation and subsequently excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine.
Similarly, at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, was arrested on Wednesday, May 21, as he attempted to board a flight to Milan, Italy. A search of his luggage uncovered 10,280 pills of Tramadol and Tapentadol concealed in a carton hidden within his suitcase.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives at a courier company intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA (Ecstasy) hidden inside bicycle luggage carriers destined for the Netherlands. They also recovered 66 pills of Tramadol 225mg concealed in a soap container bound for the United States and 18 pills in a body cream container heading to the United Kingdom.
In Edo State, acting on intelligence, operatives raided Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, seizing 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489 kilograms and nine kilograms of cannabis seeds.
Elsewhere, a suspect, Isah Sani, 30, was arrested along the Zaria-Kano road with 196,000 pills of Exol-5. At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, officers recovered 59 kilograms of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.
In Ekiti State, a raid on a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti on Saturday, May 23, led to the seizure of 1,116 kilograms of skunk and the arrest of 54-year-old Ogundana Adebayo Julius.
NDLEA also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities across the country. Awareness programmes were held in various institutions, including Command Day School in Ibadan, Girls Secondary School in Anambra, Matazu Model Primary School in Katsina, C&S Primary School in Lagos, and Government Girls Secondary School in Kano.
NDLEA Chairman and CEO, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers across the MMIA, NAIA, AIIA, Edo, Ekiti, Seme, and Kano Commands, as well as the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), for their achievements. He praised their efforts in balancing drug supply reduction with ongoing anti-drug abuse campaigns and encouraged them to maintain high operational standards.
