Odita Sunday 
NDLEA Arrests 63-Year-Old Chinese Woman Over Drug Smuggling At Lagos Airport
By Odita Sunday
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has 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 Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The Agency disclosed that the suspect, a Chinese national naturalised in Malaysia, was apprehended on Sunday, May 17, 2026, upon her arrival from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Femi Babafemi, operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall intercepted the suspect with two large suitcases containing 31 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before heading to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates.
During interrogation, the suspect reportedly claimed she works 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 drug consignment at the Thailand airport for delivery in Nigeria,” the statement added.
In another major seizure, NDLEA operatives recovered 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at over N2.1 billion at the import shed of the Lagos airport.
The anti-narcotics agency said the shipment, which arrived from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, was closely monitored before it was handed over to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22, 2026.
The Agency also recorded arrests and seizures at airports in Enugu and Abuja.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, operatives intercepted a suspect identified as Onyeka Valentine Emeka during inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa.
The suspect was subsequently placed under observation and later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine, according to the statement.
Similarly, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, NDLEA 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 wrapped with foil paper.
The Agency further disclosed that operatives at a courier company in Lagos intercepted consignments of MDMA and tramadol concealed in bicycle luggage carriers, soap containers and body cream containers bound for the Netherlands, United States and United Kingdom respectively.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives raided Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area where 489 kilograms of skunk and 9 kilograms of cannabis seeds were recovered.
The Agency also arrested a suspect, Isah Sani, with 196,000 pills of exol-5 along the Zaria-Kano road in Kano State, while another 59 kilograms of skunk was recovered from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry area of Lagos.
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, arrested.
NDLEA said its commands across the country also intensified War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, communities and worship centres during the week.
Commending the officers involved in the various operations, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised their commitment to drug supply reduction and public enlightenment campaigns.
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