By Ayo Kehinde
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese grandmother, Ting Hung Kiong, for allegedly 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 anti-narcotics agency also disclosed that it recovered over 1.8 million tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at more than N2.1 billion from a cargo shipment imported from India.
According to NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the Chinese national, who reportedly naturalised in Malaysia, was arrested on May 17, 2026, shortly after arriving in Lagos from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
Babafemi said operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of MMIA intercepted the suspect with two large travel boxes containing 31 kilograms of synthetic cannabis.
Preliminary investigations, according to the agency, revealed that the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before proceeding to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates.
During interrogation, Ting Hung Kiong allegedly told investigators that her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria. She also reportedly admitted that she stayed in Thailand for two weeks before she was handed the illicit consignment at the airport for delivery in Nigeria.
In a separate operation at the import shed of the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 29 large cartons containing 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, an opioid drug, with an estimated street value of N2,190,852,000.
The agency said the consignment, which arrived from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, had been under surveillance before it was eventually handed over to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22.
The anti-drug agency also recorded another interception at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, where operatives arrested a suspect identified as Onyeka Valentine Emeka during inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Babafemi stated that the suspect was placed under observation and later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine.
At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, NDLEA operatives arrested a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, while he attempted to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy, through Addis Ababa.
A search of his luggage reportedly led to the discovery of 10,280 pills of Tramadol 225mg, Tramadol 200mg, and Tapentadol 250mg concealed with foil papers inside a carton hidden in his suitcase.
The agency further disclosed that its officers at a courier company in Lagos intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA, also known as Ecstasy, concealed in bicycle luggage carriers meant for shipment to the Netherlands.
Additional seizures included 66 pills of Tramadol 225mg hidden inside soap containers bound for the United States and 18 tablets of the same opioid concealed in body cream containers heading to the United Kingdom.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence raided the Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, recovering 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489 kilograms alongside cannabis seeds weighing nine kilograms.
Similarly, a 30-year-old suspect, Isah Sani, was arrested along the Zaria-Kano Road in Kano State with 196,000 pills of Exol-5, while operatives at the Seme border area of Lagos recovered 59 kilograms of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.
In Ekiti State, NDLEA officers raided a warehouse located at N/56, Ikoyi community in Ikole-Ekiti, where they 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 Commands and formations across the country continued with its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities.
The sensitisation programmes were conducted in several institutions, including Command Day School, Mokola in Ibadan; Girls Secondary School, Amenyi in Anambra State; Matazu Model Primary School in Katsina State; C&S Primary School, Majidun in Ikorodu, Lagos; Alufo High School in Enugu State; Aramoko District Commercial Secondary School in Ekiti State; and Government Girls Secondary School, Kurna in Kano State.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), commended officers and men of the MMIA, Abuja, Enugu, Edo, Ekiti, Seme, and Kano Commands as well as the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation for the arrests and seizures.
Marwa urged operatives across the country to sustain the momentum in both drug supply reduction and anti-drug abuse sensitisation campaigns.
