NDLEA Busts International Drug Network, Arrests Chinese Woman With 31kg Cannabis at Lagos Airport
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intensified its clampdown on international drug trafficking syndicates with the arrest of a 63-year-old Chinese woman at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, over an attempt to smuggle 31 kilograms of synthetic cannabis, popularly known as “Canadian Loud”, into Nigeria.
The suspect, identified as Ting Hung Kiong, was apprehended by NDLEA operatives on 17 May 2026 shortly after arriving in Lagos from Thailand through Dubai on an Emirates Airline flight.
The agency disclosed that the woman, a Chinese national who had acquired Malaysian citizenship, was intercepted at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the airport with two large suitcases loaded with the illicit substance.
According to investigations by the anti-drug agency, the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before proceeding to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates.
During interrogation, she reportedly told investigators that she works as a caregiver in Malaysia and that her daughter sponsored the journey.
She further claimed that after spending two weeks in Thailand, she was handed the drug consignment at the airport for delivery to contacts in Nigeria.
The arrest came as the NDLEA announced another major breakthrough involving the interception of a massive consignment of opioids imported from India.
The agency said 29 large cartons containing 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, estimated to be worth more than N2.19 billion, were recovered at the import shed of the Lagos airport.
The shipment, which arrived aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, had reportedly been under close surveillance by NDLEA officers before it was formally transferred to the agency by the Nigeria Customs Service on 22 May 2026.
In Enugu, NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport arrested a suspect, Onyeka Valentine Emeka, during passenger clearance on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa.
The agency said the suspect was placed under observation and later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine.
At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, operatives also arrested a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, while he attempted to board a flight to Milan, Italy, through Addis Ababa.
A search of his luggage reportedly uncovered 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg concealed with foil paper inside a carton hidden in a suitcase.
The anti-narcotics agency further disclosed that officers at a Lagos courier facility intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, concealed inside a bicycle luggage carrier bound for the Netherlands.
Additional seizures included tramadol tablets hidden in soap and body cream containers destined for the United States and the United Kingdom.
Outside the airports, NDLEA operatives raided several locations across the country.
In Edo State, officers stormed Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, where they recovered 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489 kilograms alongside cannabis seeds weighing 9 kilograms.
In Kano State, a 30-year-old suspect, Isah Sani, was arrested along the Zaria-Kano road 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.
Another major seizure was recorded in Ekiti State, where NDLEA officers 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 discovery.
The agency also said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign in schools and communities across the country, including awareness programmes held in Oyo, Anambra, Katsina, Lagos, Enugu, Ekiti and Kano states.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the various operations and urged commands nationwide to sustain the momentum in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
