By Nkechi Eze
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese national, Ting Hung Kiong, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, for attempting to smuggle a large consignment of synthetic cannabis, popularly known as Canadian Loud, into Nigeria.
According to an official signed statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, the suspect, who reportedly naturalised in Malaysia, was arrested on Sunday, May 17, 2026, upon her arrival in Nigeria from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
The statement disclosed that NDLEA operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Lagos airport intercepted the suspect with two large travel boxes containing 31 kilograms of the synthetic cannabis strain.
Investigations revealed that the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before proceeding to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates. During interrogation, the 63-year-old, who claimed to be a caregiver in Malaysia, reportedly told investigators that her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria.
She further stated that she spent two weeks in Thailand before she was handed the illicit drug consignment at the airport for delivery in Nigeria.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives also recovered a massive shipment of opioids at the import shed of the Lagos airport following sustained surveillance of the consignment after its arrival from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight.
According to the agency, the Nigeria Customs Service eventually handed over 29 large cartons containing 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at N2,190,852,000 to NDLEA operatives on Friday, May 22, 2026.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday, May 20, intercepted a suspect identified as Onyeka Valentine Emeka during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The agency disclosed that the suspect was subsequently placed under observation and later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine.
Similarly, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, NDLEA operatives arrested a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy, through Addis Ababa.
A search conducted on his luggage reportedly led to the recovery of 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg concealed with foil paper inside a suitcase in an apparent attempt to evade security screening.
The anti-narcotics agency also recorded additional seizures at a courier company in Lagos where operatives intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, concealed in bicycle luggage carriers destined for the Netherlands.
NDLEA officers also recovered 66 pills of Tramadol 225mg hidden inside soap containers heading to the United States and 18 tablets of the same opioid concealed in body cream containers bound for the United Kingdom.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence raided the 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.
The agency also arrested a suspect, Isah Sani, 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 operatives raided a warehouse located at Ikoyi community in Ikole-Ekiti where 1,116 kilograms of skunk were recovered, while 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 sustained the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign through enlightenment programmes in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The sensitisation activities were held in several institutions including Command Day School, Mokola, Ibadan; Girls Secondary School, Amenyi, Anambra State; Matazu Model Primary School, Katsina State; C&S Primary School, Ikorodu, Lagos; Alufo High School, Apugo, Enugu State; Aramoko District Commercial Secondary School, Ekiti State; and Government Girls Secondary School, Kurna, Kano State.
While commending officers and personnel of the MMIA, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Edo, Ekiti, Seme and Kano Commands as well as the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised their operational successes and urged them to sustain the momentum in both drug supply reduction and anti-drug abuse sensitisation campaigns nationwide.
