The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman, Ting Hung Kiong, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for allegedly attempting to smuggle 31 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria.
The suspect, who reportedly holds Malaysian citizenship, arrived from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates flight. NDLEA operatives intercepted her at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall during routine checks. According to the agency, her journey began in Malaysia, where she works as a caregiver. She traveled to Thailand, spent two weeks there, and was then handed the consignment at the airport to deliver in Nigeria.
During interrogation, Kiong claimed her daughter sponsored the trip and that she was unaware of the contents of the two large boxes she carried. The NDLEA has also announced several other major drug seizures and arrests across the country.
Additional Seizures and Arrests
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, the NDLEA recovered a shipment of Tapentadol tablets from India. The consignment, which arrived on an Emirates Cargo flight, contained 29 cartons with 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, valued at ₦2,190,852,000. The drugs were handed over by the Nigeria Customs Service on May 22.
At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, was arrested while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy. A search of his luggage revealed 10,280 pills of Tramaking, Tramadol, and Tapentadol concealed in a carton inside his suitcase.
NDLEA operatives also intercepted illicit drugs at a courier company in Lagos, including 1,174 pills of MDMA concealed in a bicycle luggage carrier destined for the Netherlands, 66 tramadol tablets hidden in a soap container bound for the United States, and 18 tramadol tablets in a body cream container heading to the United Kingdom.
Raids in Edo, Kano, Ekiti, and Seme
In Edo State, operatives raided the Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, recovering 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489kg and cannabis seeds weighing 9kg. In Kano, Isah Sani, 30, was arrested along the Zaria-Kano road with 196,000 pills of Exol-5. At the Seme border in Lagos, officers recovered 59kg of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.
In Ekiti State, a raid on a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti led to the recovery of 1,116kg of skunk, and a 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
The NDLEA Chairman, Retired Brigadier General Buba Marwa, commended the officers involved in these operations. He urged commands across the country to sustain the tempo of operations while continuing the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities.
