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.
The suspect, described as a Chinese national naturalised in Malaysia, was apprehended on Sunday, May 17, 2026, after arriving in Nigeria from Thailand via Dubai on an Emirates Airline flight.
According to the NDLEA, operatives stationed at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the MMIA intercepted the suspect with two large suitcases containing the illicit drug consignment.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Ting travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before proceeding to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates. The agency said the recovered synthetic cannabis weighed 31 kilograms.
During interrogation, the suspect reportedly told investigators that she works as a caregiver in Malaysia and that her daughter financed her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria. She also claimed she spent two weeks in Thailand before receiving the drug consignment at the airport for delivery in Nigeria.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives recovered 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at more than N2.19 billion at the import shed of the Lagos airport.
The agency said the consignment, which arrived from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, had been under surveillance before it was formally handed over to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22, 2026.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, NDLEA officers on Wednesday, May 20, intercepted a suspect identified as Onyeka Valentine Emeka during the clearance of passengers arriving on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The agency disclosed that the suspect was placed under observation and later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine.
Similarly, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, was arrested on Wednesday, May 21, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy, through Addis Ababa.
A search of his luggage reportedly uncovered 10,280 pills of Tramadol 225mg, Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg concealed in foil paper inside a carton hidden in his suitcase.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives at a courier company intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, concealed inside bicycle luggage carriers destined for the Netherlands.
The agency also recovered 66 pills of Tramadol 225mg hidden inside a soap container bound for the United States, as well as 18 tablets concealed in a body cream container heading to the United Kingdom.
In Edo State, operatives acting on intelligence raided the Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, recovering 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489 kilograms, alongside nine kilograms of cannabis seeds.
Meanwhile, a 30-year-old suspect, Isah Sani, was arrested along the Zaria-Kano road with 196,000 pills of Exol-5. Officers at the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, also recovered 59 kilograms of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.
In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti on Saturday, May 23, recovering 1,116 kilograms of skunk. A 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
The anti-narcotics agency further disclosed that its commands across the country continued the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The awareness campaigns were conducted in several institutions, including Command Day School, Mokola, Ibadan, Oyo State; Girls Secondary School, Amenyi, Anambra State; Matazu Model Primary School, Katsina State; C&S Primary School, Ikorodu, Lagos State; and Government Girls Secondary School, Kurna, Kano State.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers of the MMIA, NAIA, AIIA, Edo, Ekiti, Seme and Kano Commands, as well as the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), for the arrests and seizures.
He praised their efforts in balancing drug supply reduction operations with sustained anti-drug abuse sensitisation campaigns, urging them to maintain the momentum and continue raising the operational standard.
