NDLEA Arrests 63-Year-Old Chinese Woman With 31kg of Drugs at Lagos Airport

The Arrest

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for allegedly attempting to smuggle 31 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud — a potent synthetic cannabis strain — into Nigeria.

The suspect, identified as Ting Hung Kiong, landed at the Lagos airport on May 17 aboard an Emirates flight from Thailand via Dubai. She had naturalised as a Malaysian citizen, according to the NDLEA.

NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement on Sunday that operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall intercepted Kiong after discovering two large travel boxes containing the illicit substance.

‘My Daughter Sent Me’

During questioning, Kiong claimed she works as a caregiver in Malaysia. She told investigators her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand, and that she spent two weeks in Thailand before someone handed her the consignment at the airport with instructions to deliver it in Nigeria.

Bigger Haul at Cargo Shed

In a separate operation at the same airport, the NDLEA announced the interception of 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg — an opioid painkiller — valued at ₦2.19 billion. The consignment, packed in 29 large cartons, arrived from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight and was handed over to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22, after weeks of monitoring.

At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, operatives also arrested Onyeka Valentine Emeka on May 20 during inward clearance of an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa. The suspect excreted 185.36 grammes of cocaine while under observation.

At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, was arrested on May 21 while trying to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan via Addis Ababa.

Sources: Punch, Arise News