The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman for allegedly attempting to smuggle a large consignment of synthetic cannabis into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The suspect, identified as Ting Hung Kiong, who reportedly naturalised in Malaysia, was arrested on Sunday, May 17, 2026, upon arrival from Thailand via Dubai on an Emirates Airline flight.

According to a statement released on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, operatives intercepted the suspect at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall after discovering two large travel boxes containing 31.0 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis.

During questioning, the suspect claimed she works as a caregiver in Malaysia and said her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and onward to Nigeria.

She further stated that she spent two weeks in Thailand, where she was allegedly handed the illicit consignment at the airport for delivery in Nigeria.

In a separate interception at the Lagos airport import shed, the NDLEA also seized a major drug shipment monitored since its arrival from India on an Emirates Cargo flight.

The agency said 29 cartons containing 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg—valued at about N2.19 billion—were handed over by the Nigeria Customs Service after close surveillance.

The NDLEA also reported another arrest at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, where a suspect identified as Onyeka Valentine Emeka was caught during inward clearance on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa. The suspect was said to have excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine under observation.

At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, operatives arrested a 29-year-old engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, while he attempted to board a flight to Milan via Addis Ababa. A search of his luggage uncovered 10,280 pills of opioids, including Tramadol and Tapentadol, concealed to evade detection.

In another operation, NDLEA operatives at a courier company in Lagos intercepted multiple illicit shipments, including MDMA (Ecstasy) hidden in bicycle luggage destined for the Netherlands, Tramadol concealed in soap containers headed for the United States, and additional pills hidden in body cream bound for the United Kingdom.

Elsewhere, in Edo State, operatives raided Igwe community in Owan East LGA, recovering 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489kg and 9kg of cannabis seeds.

In Kano State, a suspect identified as Isah Sani was arrested with 196,000 pills of Exol-5 along the Zaria–Kano road on May 20.

At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, NDLEA officers recovered 59kg of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, while in Ekiti State, a raid on a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti led to the seizure of 1,116kg of skunk and the arrest of 54-year-old Ogundana Adebayo Julius.

The agency also highlighted ongoing nationwide sensitisation campaigns under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, targeting schools, worship centres, and communities.

NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the operatives involved in the various operations and urged them to sustain efforts in both drug supply reduction and public sensitisation across the country.