63-year-old Chinese nabbed with illicit drug at Lagos Airport
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 63-year-old Chinese grandma, Ting Hung Kiong, following her attempt to smuggle large consignment of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis into Nigeria.
The female Chinese national who naturalised in Malaysia was arrested on Sunday, 17th May, 2026, upon her arrival in Nigeria from Thailand via Dubai, UAE, aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
A statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said she was intercepted by NDLEA operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
He said investigation revealed that the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria via the UAE with two large travel boxes containing the synthetic cannabis consignment weighing 31.0 kilograms.
“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 said.
Meanwhile, the agency said another major shipment of illicit drug consignment has been recovered at the import shed of the Lagos airport.
“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”, the statement said.
Babafemi also noted that in another successful interdiction operation, NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu on Wednesday 20th May intercepted a suspect, Onyeka Valentine Emeka during the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“When placed under observation, the suspect excreted a total of 185.36 grams of cocaine.
“At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide was on Wednesday 21st May arrested by NDLEA operatives while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Abuja via Addis Ababa to Milan Malpensa, Italy. 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”, he added.
He said in 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.
In Edo state, he said NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence raided Igwe community in Owan East LGA where a total of 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489kg and cannabis seeds weighing 9kg were recovered.
He said while a suspect, Isah Sani, 30, was nabbed with 196,000 pills of exol-5 on Wednesday 20th May along Zaria/Kano road, Kano State, NDLEA officers at Seme border, Badagry area of Lagos recovered 59kg skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry on Tuesday 19th May.
المصدر: Daily Trust (NG)