A 63-year-old Chinese woman has been detained by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for reportedly trying to smuggle a sizable shipment of the synthetic cannabis strain Canadian Loud into Nigeria.
On Sunday, May 17, 2026, the suspect, Ting Kiong, who became a citizen of Malaysia, was taken into custody after arriving at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos from Thailand via Dubai on an Emirates Airline flight.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi made this announcement in a statement on Sunday.
The agency claims that she was apprehended by NDLEA agents stationed at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall when they discovered her carrying two sizable travel boxes that contained 31.0 kg of the illegal drug.
The 63-year-old suspect, who says she works as a carer in Malaysia, said in an interview that her daughter paid for her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and then Nigeria.
According to the statement, “she further disclosed that she spent two weeks in Thailand before being handed the illicit consignment at the Thailand airport to deliver in Nigeria.”
The NDLEA also reported that another significant narcotics shipment had been intercepted in the import shed at the Lagos airport.
“The 29 large cartons containing 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, worth N2,190,852,000, were eventually handed over to the NDLEA by the Customs Service on Friday, May 22nd, 2026, following close monitoring of the consignment by NDLEA operatives since its arrival from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight,” it stated.
On May 20, during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa, NDLEA agents detained a suspect, Onyeka Valentine Emeka, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu.
The agency reports that during the suspect’s surveillance, 185.36 grams of cocaine were expelled.
Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, a 29-year-old building engineer, was detained by NDLEA agents on Wednesday, May 21, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja while trying to board an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft from Abuja via Addis Ababa to Milan Malpensa, Italy, Babafemi continued.
“10,280 tramadol 225 mg, tramadol 200 mg, and tapentadol 250 mg pills were found after a search of his luggage. To avoid discovery, the opioids were wrapped in foil and placed inside a carton in a luggage.
In yet another operation at a courier company in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 1,174 MDMA (Ecstasy) pills hidden in a bicycle luggage carrier heading to the Netherlands; 66 tramadol 225mg pills hidden in a soap container heading to the United States; and 18 tramadol 225mg tablets concealed in a body cream container heading to the United Kingdom,” the agency stated.
59 giant bags of skunk weighing 489 kg and 9 kg of cannabis seeds were found during an intelligence-driven operation on an Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, Edo State.
According to the agency, on May 20, a 30-year-old suspect named Isah Sani was taken into custody along the Zaria–Kano Road in Kano State with 196,000 Exol-5 pills. On May 19, agents at the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, found 59 kg of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo.
On May 23, NDLEA agents in Ekiti State searched a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti and found 1,116 kg of skunk. Ogundana Julius, a 54-year-old suspect, was taken into custody in relation to the discovery.
The organization also revealed ongoing nationwide efforts to raise awareness of the War Against Drug Abuse in communities, schools, and places of worship in a number of states.
NDLEA’s chairman and chief executive officer, Brig. Officers engaged in the operations were complimented by Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), who also tasked them with continuing the agency’s efforts to reduce drug supply and raise awareness.
