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 “Canadian Loud,” a synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The suspect, a Chinese national reportedly naturalised in Malaysia, was apprehended by NDLEA operatives on Sunday, May 17, 2026, after arriving in Nigeria from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
According to the agency, the suspect was intercepted at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of MMIA, Ikeja, with two large travel boxes containing 31 kilograms of the illicit synthetic cannabis.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the 63-year-old travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before heading to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates. During interrogation, she reportedly told investigators that her daughter sponsored her trip and that she stayed in Thailand for two weeks before receiving the drug consignment at the airport for delivery in Nigeria.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport recovered a major shipment of illicit drugs valued at over N2.1 billion. The consignment, which arrived from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, contained 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg concealed in 29 large cartons.
The drugs were eventually handed over to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22, following days of surveillance by anti-narcotics officers.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, NDLEA officers also intercepted a suspect identified as Onyeka Valentine Emeka during passenger clearance on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa. The suspect later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine after being placed under observation.
Similarly, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, operatives arrested a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, while attempting to board a flight to Milan, Italy. A search of his luggage uncovered 10,280 pills of controlled opioids, including Tramadol and Tapentadol, concealed inside a carton and wrapped in foil paper.
The agency further disclosed that its operatives intercepted drug consignments hidden in courier packages bound for the Netherlands, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Across states including Edo, Kano, Lagos, and Ekiti, NDLEA recorded multiple seizures of skunk and other illicit substances, with over 1,100 kilograms recovered in Ekiti alone.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the successful operations and urged commands nationwide to sustain the fight against drug trafficking while intensifying public sensitization campaigns against drug abuse.
