NDLEA arrests 63-year-old Chinese woman over alleged drug trafficking at Lagos airport

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

 

The suspect, a Chinese national naturalised in Malaysia, was arrested on Sunday, May 17, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, after arriving from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.

 

NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

 

According to the agency, the suspect was intercepted at the Terminal 2 arrival hall during passenger clearance operations.

 

Investigations showed that the woman travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before heading to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates with two travel boxes containing the illicit substance.

 

“She disclosed that she spent two weeks in Thailand before she was handed the illicit consignment at the Thailand airport to deliver in Nigeria,” the statement said.

 

The suspect reportedly claimed she works as a caregiver in Malaysia and said her daughter funded her trip.

 

In a related operation, NDLEA said it intercepted 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at N2.19 billion at the import shed of the Lagos airport.

 

The opioid shipment, which arrived from India aboard an Emirates cargo flight, was handed over to NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service after surveillance operations.

 

At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, operatives arrested Onyeka Valentine Emeka during the clearance of passengers arriving on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone through Addis Ababa.

 

NDLEA said the suspect later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine after being placed under observation.

 

At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, operatives also arrested a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, while attempting to board a flight to Milan, Italy.

 

The agency said 10,280 pills of Tramadol and Tapentadol were discovered concealed inside his luggage.

 

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 1,174 MDMA pills hidden in bicycle luggage carriers bound for the Netherlands, 66 Tramadol pills concealed in soap containers heading to the United States, and 18 tablets hidden inside body cream containers destined for the United Kingdom.

 

In Edo State, operatives raided Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, recovering 489 kilograms of skunk and 9 kilograms of cannabis seeds.

 

A suspect, Isah Sani, was also arrested in Kano State with 196,000 pills of Exol-5 along the Zaria-Kano road.

 

In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti where they recovered 1,116 kilograms of skunk and arrested a 54-year-old suspect identified as Ogundana Adebayo Julius.

 

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain efforts against drug trafficking and abuse across the country.