NDLEA Arrests Chinese Woman Over Drug Smuggling at Lagos Airport, Seizes N2.1bn Opioids Shipment
Oru Leonard
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese grandmother, Ting Hung Kiong, for attempting to smuggle a large consignment of synthetic cannabis popularly known as “Canadian Loud” into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The suspect, a Chinese national naturalised in Malaysia, was apprehended on Sunday, May 17, 2026, upon arrival from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight. She was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Lagos airport with two large travel boxes containing 31 kilograms of the illicit substance.
According to investigations, the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before proceeding to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates. During interrogation, she claimed to be a caregiver based in Malaysia and disclosed that her daughter sponsored her trip. She further stated that she spent two weeks in Thailand before receiving the drug consignment at the airport for delivery in Nigeria.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Lagos airport recovered 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at over N2.19 billion. The consignment, which arrived from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, was handed over to the agency by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22, after days of surveillance and monitoring.
The anti-narcotics agency also recorded major interceptions at other airports across the country.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, operatives arrested Onyeka Valentine Emeka on Wednesday, May 20, during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa. The suspect was subsequently placed under observation and later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine.
Similarly, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, NDLEA operatives arrested a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy, via Addis Ababa. A search of his luggage uncovered 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg concealed inside a carton wrapped with foil paper in a bid to evade detection.
The agency also intercepted illicit drugs concealed in export packages at a courier company in Lagos. Recovered items included 1,174 pills of MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, hidden inside a bicycle luggage carrier destined for the Netherlands, as well as tramadol pills concealed in soap and body cream containers heading to the United States and the United Kingdom respectively.
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 9 kilograms of cannabis seeds.
In Kano State, a suspect identified as Isah Sani, 30, was arrested along the Zaria-Kano road with 196,000 pills of Exol-5, while officers at the Seme border area of Lagos recovered 59 kilograms of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.
Another major seizure was recorded in Ekiti State, where NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti and recovered 1,116 kilograms of skunk. A 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
Beyond enforcement operations, the agency said its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign continued across schools, worship centres and communities. Awareness lectures were conducted in institutions across Oyo, Anambra, Katsina, Lagos, Enugu, Ekiti and Kano states.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers and men of the MMIA, NAIA, AIIA, Edo, Ekiti, Seme and Kano Commands, as well as the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), for the successful arrests and seizures.
He urged operatives across the country to sustain the momentum in reducing drug supply while intensifying public sensitisation campaigns against substance abuse.
