NDLEA nabs 63-year-old Chinese woman with 31kg “Canadian Loud” at Lagos Airport, seizes N2.1bn Opioids

NDLEA operatives arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman, Ting Hung Kiong, on May 17 at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport for allegedly trying to smuggle 31kg of “Canadian Loud,” a synthetic cannabis strain, into Nigeria.

The agency said Kiong, a Malaysian naturalised citizen, flew in from Thailand via Dubai on an Emirates flight. According to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, she had travelled from Malaysia to Thailand first, then on to Nigeria with two suitcases packed with the drug.

Kiong told interrogators she works as a caregiver in Malaysia. She said her daughter sponsored the trip and handed her the consignment at the Thailand airport after she spent two weeks there. She was to deliver it in Nigeria.

In a separate bust, NDLEA recovered 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg worth over N2.1 billion at the Lagos airport import shed. The consignment came from India on an Emirates Cargo flight and was handed over by Customs on Friday after days of surveillance.

At Enugu’s Akanu Ibiam Airport, officers intercepted Onyeka Valentine Emeka during clearance from a flight via Addis Ababa from Sierra Leone. He later excreted 185.36g of cocaine under observation.

In Abuja, 29-year-old building engineer Babatunde Afekhide was arrested at Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport trying to board a flight to Milan via Addis Ababa. A search found 10,280 pills of Tramaking, Tramadol, and Tapentadol hidden in foil-wrapped cartons in his luggage.

The agency also seized 1,174 pills of MDMA, or Ecstasy, hidden in a bicycle carrier and headed for the Netherlands at a Lagos courier facility. Other interceptions included tramadol concealed in soap and body cream bound for the US and UK.

In Edo, operatives raided Igwe community in Owan East LGA and recovered 489kg of skunk and 9kg of cannabis seeds. On the Zaria-Kano road, Isah Sani was arrested with 196,000 Exol-5 pills. At Seme border in Lagos, 59kg of skunk was found in a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.

In Ekiti, NDLEA raided a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti and seized 1,116kg of skunk, arresting 54-year-old Ogundana Adebayo Julius.

NDLEA said its commands also continued War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation in schools and communities across Oyo, Anambra, Katsina, Lagos, Enugu, Ekiti, and Kano.

Chairman Buba Marwa commended the officers and urged them to keep up pressure on drug trafficking and abuse nationwide.