NDLEA nabs 63-year-old Chinese woman with 31kg synthetic cannabis

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Ting Hung Kiong, a 63-year-old Chinese national, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 31 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis into Nigeria.

Kiong, who reportedly holds Malaysian citizenship, was intercepted on Sunday, May 17, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport after arriving aboard an Emirates flight from Thailand via Dubai.

She was said to have arrived with two large travel boxes containing the illicit consignment.

According to investigators, the suspect, who claimed to work as a caregiver in Malaysia, said her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand, where she stayed for two weeks before receiving the drugs at a Thailand airport for delivery in Nigeria.

In another operation, NDLEA operatives recovered 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at N2.19 billion at the Lagos airport import shed.

The shipment, which arrived from India through Emirates Cargo, was handed over to the agency by the Nigeria Customs Service on May 22 after surveillance operations.

At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, NDLEA officers arrested Onyeka Emeka on May 20 after he excreted 185.36 grammes of cocaine following his arrival from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.

In Abuja, Babatunde Afekhide, a 29-year-old building engineer, was arrested on May 21 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Milan, Italy, via Addis Ababa.

Operatives reportedly recovered 10,280 pills of Tramadol and Tapentadol concealed with foil paper inside his luggage.

NDLEA operatives also intercepted drug parcels at a courier company in Lagos destined for Europe and the United States.

The intercepted items included 1,174 pills of MDMA (Ecstasy) hidden in a bicycle luggage carrier bound for the Netherlands, 66 Tramadol pills concealed in soap heading to the United States, and 18 Tramadol tablets hidden in body cream meant for the United Kingdom.

In Edo State, officers raided the Igwe community in Owan East LGA and recovered 489kg of skunk cannabis alongside 9kg of cannabis seeds.

In Ekiti State, a raid on a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti on May 23 led to the seizure of 1,116kg of skunk and the arrest of Ogundana Adebayo Julius, aged 54.

Other operations included the arrest of Isah Sani with 196,000 pills of Exol-5 along the Zaria-Kano road and the recovery of 59kg of skunk from a warehouse in Badagry, Lagos State.

The agency also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns across schools and communities in Oyo, Anambra, Katsina, Lagos, Enugu, Ekiti and Kano states.

Buba Marwa, chairman of the NDLEA, commended operatives from the Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Edo, Ekiti, Seme and Kano commands for the successful operations and urged them to sustain efforts in drug supply reduction and public sensitisation.