NDLEA drug smuggling arrest operations uncover cannabis, opioids and cocaine as a Chinese woman is detained at Lagos airport
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman, Ting Kiong, for allegedly attempting to smuggle a large consignment of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria through Lagos.
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The suspect, who reportedly naturalised in Malaysia, was arrested on 17 May 2026 after arriving at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
The development was disclosed on Sunday in a statement issued by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi.
According to the agency, operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall intercepted the suspect after discovering two large travel boxes containing 31 kilograms of the illicit substance.
The agency said Ting Kiong claimed during interrogation that she worked as a carer in Malaysia and that her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand before her onward journey 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 another major operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted a large opioid shipment at the Lagos airport import shed after closely monitoring the consignment following its arrival from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight.
The agency disclosed that 29 cartons containing 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at more than N2.1bn were eventually transferred to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service on 22 May 2026.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, operatives also arrested a suspect identified as Onyeka Valentine Emeka during passenger clearance for an Ethiopian Airlines flight arriving from Sierra Leone through Addis Ababa.
According to the NDLEA, the suspect later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine while under observation.
The agency further announced the arrest of a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Milan via Addis Ababa.
A search of his luggage allegedly uncovered 10,280 pills of tramadol and tapentadol concealed inside a carton wrapped with foil paper in an apparent effort to evade detection.
In Lagos, operatives at a courier company intercepted 1,174 MDMA pills hidden in a bicycle luggage carrier bound for the Netherlands.
Additional seizures included tramadol concealed in soap and body cream containers destined for the United States and the United Kingdom.
The anti-narcotics agency also recorded major seizures in several states across the country.
In Edo State, operatives raided the Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, recovering 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489 kilograms alongside cannabis seeds.
In Kano State, a suspect identified as Isah Sani was arrested along the Zaria–Kano Road with 196,000 pills of Exol-5, while operatives at the Seme border area in Badagry recovered 59 kilograms of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo.
The NDLEA also disclosed that officers in Ekiti State raided a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti where 1,116 kilograms of skunk were recovered, leading to the arrest of a 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Julius.
Beyond enforcement operations, the agency said it had continued nationwide sensitisation campaigns under its War Against Drug Abuse initiative across schools, worship centres and communities.
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Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s aggressive drug supply reduction and public awareness efforts.
