A 63-year-old Chinese woman, Ting Hung Kiong, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for allegedly attempting to smuggle 31 kilogrammes of synthetic cannabis, popularly known as Canadian Loud, into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The suspect, a Chinese national said to have naturalised in Malaysia, was apprehended on May 17 after arriving in Lagos from Thailand through Dubai aboard an Emirates flight.
According to the NDLEA, operatives stationed at the arrival hall of MMIA Terminal 2 intercepted her with two large travel boxes containing the illicit substance.
Investigators said Kiong travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before continuing to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates. During questioning, she reportedly told officials that she works as a caregiver in Malaysia and that her daughter financed the trip.
She also claimed she spent two weeks in Thailand before being handed the drug consignment at the airport for delivery in Nigeria.
The arrest came as the anti-narcotics agency recorded several other seizures across the country.
At Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives, working alongside the Nigeria Customs Service, recovered 1.8 million tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at over ₦2.1 billion from a cargo shipment that arrived from India aboard an Emirates cargo flight.
In Enugu, officers at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport arrested Onyeka Valentine Emeka during passenger clearance on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa. The suspect was later found to have excreted 185.36 grammes of cocaine after being placed under observation.
Another suspect, 29-year-old Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja while attempting to board a flight to Milan, Italy. NDLEA said a search of his luggage uncovered 10,280 pills of Tramadol and Tapentadol concealed inside a suitcase using foil paper and cartons.
The agency also intercepted drug shipments at a Lagos courier company, including MDMA tablets concealed in bicycle parts bound for the Netherlands, Tramadol hidden in soap containers destined for the United States, and more pills concealed in body cream containers heading to the United Kingdom.
Outside the airports, NDLEA operatives intensified raids in several states. In Edo, officials recovered 489kg of skunk and cannabis seeds during an operation in Owan East Local Government Area. In Ekiti, a warehouse raid in Ikole-Ekiti led to the seizure of 1,116kg of skunk and the arrest of a 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius.
The agency also recorded seizures in Kano and at the Seme border in Lagos State.
NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations, praising their efforts in both drug interdiction and the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse awareness campaign across schools and communities nationwide.
