RismadarVoice Reporters
May 24, 2026
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman, Ting Hung Kiong, for allegedly attempting to smuggle a large consignment of illicit drugs into Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
The suspect, a Chinese national reportedly naturalised in Malaysia, was arrested on May 17, 2026, at the arrival hall of Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport after arriving from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airlines flight.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the agency, investigations revealed that the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before proceeding to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates with two large travel boxes containing 31 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis.
During interrogation, the suspect reportedly told investigators that she worked as a caregiver in Malaysia and that her daughter sponsored the trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria.
“She 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 said.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives also intercepted another major shipment of illicit drugs at the import shed of the Lagos airport.
The agency said the consignment, which arrived from India aboard an Emirates cargo flight, contained 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at about N2.19 billion.
According to the statement, the 29 cartons of opioids were handed over to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service after close monitoring on May 22, 2026.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, NDLEA operatives arrested a suspect identified as Onyeka Valentine Emeka during passenger clearance on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa.
The agency said the suspect later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine after being placed under observation.
Similarly, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, operatives arrested a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, while attempting to board a flight to Milan, Italy, through Addis Ababa.
A search of his luggage reportedly led to the recovery of 10,280 pills of Tramadol and Tapentadol concealed inside a carton in his suitcase.
The NDLEA also disclosed that operatives attached to a courier company in Lagos intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA hidden inside bicycle luggage carriers heading to the Netherlands, 66 pills of Tramadol concealed in soap containers destined for the United States, and 18 tablets hidden in body cream containers bound for the United Kingdom.
In Edo State, operatives 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 nine kilograms.
In Kano State, a suspect identified as Isah Sani was arrested along the Zaria-Kano road with 196,000 pills of Exol-5, while officers at the Seme border area of Lagos recovered 59 kilograms of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.
The agency further disclosed that in Ekiti State, operatives raided a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti where 1,116 kilograms of skunk were recovered and a 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius, was arrested.
The NDLEA said its commands nationwide also sustained sensitisation campaigns under the War Against Drug Abuse initiative in schools, communities and worship centres.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to maintain the momentum in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
