The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman for allegedly attempting to bring a large quantity of illicit drugs into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The suspect, identified as Ting Hung Kiong, was arrested on May 17 after arriving in Nigeria from Thailand through Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday.
According to the agency, the suspect, who reportedly naturalised in Malaysia, was intercepted by operatives at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall after officers discovered two large travel boxes containing 31 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis.
“During an interview, the 63-year-old suspect who claims she works as a caregiver in Malaysia stated that her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria.
“She further disclosed that she spent two weeks in Thailand, before she was handed the illicit consignment at the Thailand airport to deliver in Nigeria,” the statement read.
The anti-drug agency also announced the interception of a major consignment of opioid tablets at the airport’s import shed in Lagos.
“Following close monitoring of the consignment by NDLEA operatives since its arrival from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, the 29 large cartons containing One Million, Eight Hundred and Twenty-Five Thousand, Seven Hundred and Ten (1,825,710) tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, worth Two Billion, One Hundred and Ninety Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty-Two Thousand Naira (N2,190,852,000) were eventually handed over to the NDLEA by the Customs Service on Friday 22nd May 2026,” it said.
In a separate operation at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, operatives arrested a suspect, Onyeka Valentine Emeka, on May 20 during the clearance of passengers arriving from Sierra Leone through Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
The agency said the suspect later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine while under observation.
Babafemi also disclosed that another suspect, identified as Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on May 21 while attempting to board a flight to Italy through Addis Ababa.
According to the NDLEA spokesperson, the 29-year-old building engineer was found with thousands of opioid pills concealed in his luggage.
“A search conducted on his luggage led to the recovery of 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg; Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg. The opioids were concealed using foil paper and hidden inside a carton, in a suitcase, obviously to evade detection.
“In yet another operation at a courier company in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA (Ecstasy) concealed in bicycle luggage carrier heading to Netherlands; 66 pills of tramadol 225mg hidden in soap container going to the United States and 18 tablets of tramadol 225mg concealed in body cream container heading to the United Kingdom,” the agency said.
The agency also carried out raids in several states across the country.
In Edo State, operatives raided Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, where they recovered 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489 kilograms, alongside nine kilograms of cannabis seeds.
In Kano State, a 30-year-old suspect, Isah Sani, was arrested along the Zaria–Kano road with 196,000 pills of Exol-5.
At the Seme border area in Badagry, Lagos State, operatives recovered 59 kilograms of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo on May 19.
The agency also said officers raided a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti, Ekiti State, on May 23, where they recovered 1,116 kilograms of skunk and arrested a 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius.
Babafemi added that the agency had continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres and communities across different states.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s anti-drug efforts nationwide.
