The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman, Ting Kiong, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 31 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
The suspect, who reportedly naturalised in Malaysia, was arrested on Sunday, May 17, 2026, after arriving from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi.
According to the statement, NDLEA operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall intercepted the suspect after discovering two large travel boxes containing the illicit drug weighing 31 kilograms.
During interrogation, Ting Kiong reportedly told investigators that she works as a carer in Malaysia and that her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and then to Nigeria.
“She further disclosed that she spent two weeks in Thailand before she was handed the illicit consignment at the Thailand airport to deliver in Nigeria,” the statement said.
In a separate operation, the NDLEA announced the interception of a major drug consignment at the Lagos airport import shed after closely monitoring the shipment from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight.
The agency said 29 large cartons containing 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, estimated to be worth N2.19 billion, were eventually handed over to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22, 2026.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, operatives also arrested a suspect identified as Onyeka Valentine Emeka during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone through Addis Ababa.
The agency said the suspect excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine while under observation.
Similarly, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, NDLEA operatives arrested a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, on May 21 while he attempted to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy, through Addis Ababa.
A search of his luggage reportedly led to the recovery of 10,280 pills of tramadol and tapentadol concealed with foil paper inside a carton hidden in his suitcase.
The agency further disclosed that operatives at a courier company in Lagos intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, concealed in a bicycle luggage carrier bound for the Netherlands.
Additional seizures included 66 pills of tramadol hidden inside a soap container heading to the United States and 18 tablets concealed in a body cream container destined for the United Kingdom.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives 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.
The agency also arrested a 30-year-old suspect, Isah Sani, along the Zaria–Kano Road in Kano State with 196,000 pills of Exol-5.
At the Seme border area in Badagry, Lagos, operatives recovered 59 kilograms of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo.
Meanwhile, in Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti on May 23 and recovered 1,116 kilograms of skunk, leading to the arrest of a 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Julius.
The agency said it had also intensified its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign across schools, worship centres, and communities in several states.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain efforts aimed at reducing drug trafficking and abuse across the country.
