63-year-old Chinese Grandmother nabbed with 31kg of cannabis at Lagos airport

• NDLEA has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese woman, Ting Hung Kiong, at Lagos airport over alleged possession of 31kg of synthetic cannabis known as Canadian Loud.

• ​The suspect reportedly travelled from Thailand through Dubai to Nigeria aboard an Emirates flight.

• The anti-drug agency also announced several other major drug seizures and arrests across Lagos, Abuja, Edo, Kano and Ekiti states.

​According to NDLEA, the suspect, who is said to have naturalised in Malaysia, arrived from Thailand through Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight but was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

​The agency disclosed that its investigation showed the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand, then to Nigeria via the United Arab Emirates, carrying two large boxes containing the illicit consignment.

​The Chinese woman, during interrogation, claimed she works as a caregiver in Malaysia and that her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and Nigeria.

She allegedly told investigators that after spending two weeks in Thailand, she was handed the consignment at the airport to deliver in Nigeria.

​The agency in another operation at the Lagos airport disclosed that it has recovered a major shipment of Tapentadol tablets imported from India.

The consignment, according to the anti-drug agency, arrived aboard an Emirates Cargo flight and was monitored until it was handed over by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22.

​The consignment contained 29 cartons containing 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at ₦2,190,852,000.

​At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, was arrested while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy. A search of his luggage allegedly led to the recovery of 10,280 pills of Tramaking, Tramadol and Tapentadol concealed in a carton inside his suitcase.

NDLEA operatives also intercepted illicit drugs at a courier company in Lagos.

The seizures included 1,174 pills of MDMA concealed in a bicycle luggage carrier heading to the Netherlands, 66 tramadol tablets hidden in a soap container bound for the United States, and 18 tramadol tablets concealed in a body cream container heading to the United Kingdom.

​In Edo State, operatives raided the Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, where 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489kg and cannabis seeds weighing 9kg were recovered.

In Kano, Isah Sani, 30, was arrested along the Zaria-Kano road with 196,000 pills of Exol-5.

At the Seme border in Lagos, officers recovered 59kg of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.

​In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti and recovered 1,116kg of skunk. A 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius, was arrested in connection with the seizure.

​NDLEA Chairman, Retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa commended officers involved in the arrests and seizures across Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Edo, Ekiti, Kano and Seme.

​He urged commands across the country to sustain the tempo of operations while continuing the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.

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