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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman, Ting Hung Kiong, for attempting to smuggle a large consignment of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria.
The suspect, a Chinese national naturalised in Malaysia, was arrested on Sunday, May 17, 2026, upon her arrival in Nigeria from Thailand via Dubai, UAE, aboard an Emirates Airline flight. She was intercepted by NDLEA operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
Investigation revealed that the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand and then to Nigeria through the UAE with two large suitcases containing 31 kilograms of the synthetic cannabis.
During interrogation, the suspect, who claimed to be a caregiver in Malaysia, said her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria. She further disclosed that she spent two weeks in Thailand before she was handed the illicit consignment at the airport for delivery in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, another major drug consignment was recovered at the import shed of the Lagos airport.
Following close monitoring of the shipment by NDLEA operatives since its arrival from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, 29 large cartons containing 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg worth N2.19 billion were handed over to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22, 2026.
In another interdiction operation, NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on Wednesday, May 20, intercepted a suspect, Onyeka Valentine Emeka, during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
While under observation, the suspect excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine.
At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, was arrested on Wednesday, May 21, by NDLEA operatives while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Abuja via Addis Ababa to Milan, Italy.
A search of his luggage led to the recovery of 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg.
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The opioids were concealed with foil paper and hidden inside a carton in a suitcase to evade detection.
In another operation at a courier company in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA (Ecstasy) concealed in a bicycle luggage carrier heading to the Netherlands; 66 pills of Tramadol 225mg hidden in a soap container bound for the United States; and 18 tablets of Tramadol 225mg concealed in a body cream container heading to the United Kingdom.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence raided Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, where 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489kg and cannabis seeds weighing 9kg were recovered.
Also, a suspect, Isah Sani, 30, was arrested with 196,000 pills of Exol-5 on Wednesday, May 20, along the Zaria-Kano Road in Kano State, while NDLEA officers at the Seme border in Badagry area of Lagos recovered 59kg of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry, on Tuesday, May 19.
Another operation in Ekiti State led to the recovery of 1,116 kilograms of skunk after NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse at N/56, Ikoyi community, Ikole-Ekiti, on Saturday, May 23.
A 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
The agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities across the country.
The activities included enlightenment lectures for students and staff of Command Day School, Mokola, Ibadan, Oyo State; Girls Secondary School, Amenyi, Anambra State; Matazu Model Primary School, Matazu LGA, Katsina State; C&S Primary School, Majidun, Ikorodu, Lagos; Alufo High School, Apugo, Enugu State; Aramoko District Commercial Secondary School, Aramoko Ekiti; and Government Girls Secondary School, Kurna, Kano State.
While commending officers and men of the MMIA, NAIA, AIIA, Edo, Ekiti, Seme and Kano Commands, as well as those of DOGI, for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd), praised their drug supply reduction efforts and WADA sensitisation activities.
He urged them and their counterparts across the country to continue raising the operational bar.
