The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese grandmother, Ting Hung Kiong, for attempting to smuggle a large consignment of illicit drugs into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
The suspect, a Chinese national naturalised in Malaysia, was apprehended by NDLEA operatives on Sunday, May 17, 2026, shortly after arriving in Nigeria from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
According to the agency, the suspect was intercepted at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, with two large travel boxes containing 31 kilograms of “Canadian Loud,” a synthetic strain of cannabis.
NDLEA said preliminary investigations revealed that Ting travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before heading to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates. The agency added that the illicit drug consignment was handed over to her at the Thailand airport for delivery in Nigeria.
Speaking during interrogation, the suspect claimed she works as a caregiver in Malaysia and disclosed that her daughter sponsored the trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria. She further stated that she spent two weeks in Thailand before receiving the drug shipment.
In another major operation, NDLEA operatives recovered a massive shipment of opioids at the import shed of the Lagos airport.
The agency disclosed that the consignment, which arrived from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, had been under close surveillance before it was officially handed over by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22, 2026.
The seizure included 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg packed inside 29 large cartons. NDLEA estimated the street value of the shipment at N2.19 billion.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, NDLEA operatives intercepted Onyeka Valentine Emeka during inward clearance of passengers arriving on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The agency said the suspect was placed under observation and later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine.
Similarly, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, a 29-year-old building engineer identified as Babatunde Prosper Afekhide was arrested while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy, through Addis Ababa.
NDLEA said a search of his luggage uncovered 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg concealed with foil paper inside a carton hidden in a suitcase.
The anti-narcotics agency also announced the interception of several drug consignments at a courier company in Lagos.
Among the seized items were 1,174 pills of MDMA, popularly known as Ecstasy, hidden inside a bicycle luggage carrier destined for the Netherlands.
Operatives also recovered 66 pills of Tramadol 225mg concealed in a soap container bound for the United States and 18 tablets of the same opioid hidden in a body cream container heading to the United Kingdom.
In Edo State, NDLEA 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 9 kilograms.
In Kano State, officers arrested a 30-year-old suspect, Isah Sani, along the Zaria-Kano Road with 196,000 pills of Exol-5.
At the Seme border area of Lagos, operatives also recovered 59 kilograms of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.
Another major seizure was recorded in Ekiti State, where NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse in Ikoyi community, Ikole-Ekiti, on Saturday, May 23, recovering 1,116 kilograms of skunk.
The agency confirmed the arrest of a 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius, in connection with the seizure.
Beyond enforcement operations, the agency said its commands across the country continued sensitisation activities under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign.
The awareness programmes were conducted in several schools and communities, including institutions in Oyo, Anambra, Katsina, Lagos, Enugu, Ekiti and Kano states.
The Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations for balancing drug supply reduction efforts with anti-drug sensitisation campaigns.
Marwa urged operatives across the country to sustain the momentum and continue raising the agency’s operational standards in combating drug trafficking and abuse in Nigeria.