The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman, Ting Hung Kiong, along with other suspects during a series of raids across Nigeria last week. Kiong, a naturalised Malaysian, was apprehended on Sunday, May 17, 2026, upon her arrival from Thailand via Dubai, United Arab Emirates, aboard an Emirates Airline flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.
Details of the Arrest
NDLEA operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall intercepted Kiong, who was allegedly attempting to smuggle a large consignment of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria. Investigations revealed that she travelled from Malaysia to Thailand and then to Nigeria through the UAE with two large travel boxes containing 31 kilogrammes of the synthetic cannabis.
During interrogation, the suspect, who claimed to be a caregiver in Malaysia, stated that her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria. She added that she spent two weeks in Thailand before receiving the illicit consignment at the airport for delivery in Nigeria.
Other Major Seizures
In a related development, another major illicit drug consignment was recovered at the import shed of the Lagos airport. Following close monitoring by NDLEA operatives after the shipment arrived from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, 29 large cartons containing 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, valued at N2.19 billion, were handed over to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22, 2026.
Additionally, NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, on Wednesday, May 20, intercepted a suspect, Onyeka Emeka, during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The suspect was placed under observation and subsequently excreted 185.36 grammes of cocaine.
At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Afekhide, was arrested while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Abuja via Addis Ababa to Milan Malpensa, Italy, on Wednesday, May 21. A search of his luggage led to the recovery of 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg. The opioids were concealed with foil paper and hidden inside a carton in a suitcase to evade detection.
Courier and Community Raids
In another operation at a courier company in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA, popularly known as Ecstasy, concealed in a bicycle luggage carrier bound for the Netherlands; 66 pills of Tramadol 225mg hidden in a soap container destined for the United States; and 18 tablets of Tramadol 225mg concealed in a body cream container heading to the United Kingdom.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence raided the Igwe community in Owan East Local Council, where 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489kg, as well as cannabis seeds weighing 9kg, were recovered. Similarly, a suspect, Isah Sani, 30, was arrested with 196,000 pills of Exol-5 on Wednesday, May 20, along the Zaria-Kano Road in Kano State.
At the Seme border in the Badagry area of Lagos State, NDLEA officers recovered 59kg of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry, on Tuesday, May 19. Another major seizure was recorded in Ekiti State, where NDLEA operatives on Saturday, May 23, raided a warehouse located at N/56, Ikoyi community, Ikole-Ekiti, and recovered 1,116 kilogrammes of skunk. A 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
Commendation from NDLEA Chairman
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Marwa (retd), commended officers and men of the MMIA, NAIA, AIIA, Edo, Ekiti, Seme and Kano commands, as well as those of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), for the arrests and seizures. He praised their drug supply reduction efforts, which he said were balanced with War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities, and urged them to continue raising the operational bar.
