NDLEA Arrests Chinese Woman Over Drug Smuggling, Seizes N2.1bn Opioids at Lagos Airport
By: Zagazola Makama
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 63-year-old Chinese national, Ting Hung Kiong, for allegedly attempting to smuggle a large consignment of illicit drugs into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The agency also announced the seizure of opioid consignments valued at over N2.1 billion, alongside multiple arrests and recoveries made in coordinated anti-narcotics operations across the country.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the Director of Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, the suspect, who reportedly naturalised in Malaysia, was arrested on May 17 upon arrival in Lagos from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.
Babafemi said the suspect was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Lagos airport with two large travel boxes containing 31 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before proceeding to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates.
The suspect reportedly told investigators that she worked as a caregiver in Malaysia and that her daughter sponsored her trip.
“She disclosed that she spent two weeks in Thailand before she was handed the illicit consignment at the airport to deliver in Nigeria,” the statement said.
In another major operation, NDLEA operatives recovered 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg worth N2.19 billion at the import shed of the Lagos airport.
The consignment, which arrived from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, was handed over to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service after a period of surveillance and monitoring.
The anti-drug agency also recorded arrests at airports in Enugu and Abuja.
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At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, operatives intercepted one Onyeka Valentine Emeka on May 20 during the inward clearance of passengers arriving from Sierra Leone through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The suspect was subsequently placed under observation and later excreted 185.36 grams of cocaine.
Similarly, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, NDLEA operatives arrested a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy, through Addis Ababa.
A search of his luggage led to the recovery of 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg concealed in foil papers and hidden inside a carton within a suitcase.
The agency also intercepted illicit drug consignments at a courier company in Lagos, including 1,174 pills of MDMA, popularly known as Ecstasy, concealed in a bicycle luggage carrier bound for the Netherlands.
Other seizures included 66 pills of Tramadol 225mg hidden inside a soap container destined for the United States and 18 tablets of Tramadol concealed in a body cream container heading to the United Kingdom.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives raided Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area where they recovered 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489 kilograms, alongside nine kilograms of cannabis seeds.
In Kano State, operatives arrested a suspect identified as Isah Sani along the Zaria-Kano road with 196,000 pills of Exol-5.
At the Seme border area of Lagos State, officers recovered 59 kilograms of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.
Another major seizure was recorded in Ekiti State where operatives raided a warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti and recovered 1,116 kilograms of skunk, while a suspect identified as Ogundana Adebayo Julius, 54, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
The NDLEA said it also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns across schools and communities in states including Oyo, Anambra, Katsina, Lagos, Enugu, Ekiti and Kano.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations and urged personnel across commands to sustain the momentum in ongoing anti-drug campaigns and enforcement activities nationwide.