LAGOS, Nigeria — A 63-year-old Chinese national who naturalised in Malaysia has been arrested by anti-narcotics agents at Nigeria’s main international airport for allegedly attempting to smuggle a large, high-value consignment of synthetic cannabis into the country.
The suspect, identified as Ting Kiong, was intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos after arriving on an Emirates Airline flight from Thailand via Dubai.
In a formal statement released on Sunday, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) spokesperson Femi Babafemi confirmed that airport operatives discovered 31 kilograms of “Canadian Loud”—a potent, synthetic strain of cannabis—concealed inside two large travel boxes during an inbound clearance at the Terminal 2 arrival hall.
A Multinational Drug Trail
According to the NDLEA, the suspect claimed during interrogation that she works as a carer in Malaysia and that her daughter had funded her multi-leg trip through Asia to West Africa.
Investigators revealed that Ms Kiong spent two weeks in Thailand before being handed the illicit cargo at the airport in Bangkok with instructions to deliver it to a contact in Nigeria.
The arrest highlights an increasingly sophisticated, cross-continental trafficking pipeline where synthetic drugs cultivated or processed globally are routed through transit hubs in the Middle East and Southeast Asia to supply Nigeria’s lucrative illicit narcotics market.
Multi-Billion Naira Opioid Seizure
The airport interception was part of a broader, multi-million-dollar nationwide crackdown by anti-drug operatives over the past week.
At the Lagos airport cargo shed, customs officials handed over a massive shipment of Indian-manufactured opioids to the NDLEA following days of close monitoring. The consignment, which arrived aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, contained more than 1.8 million tablets of Tapentadol (250mg) packed into 29 large cartons. The agency valued the seized pills at over 2.1 billion Naira (£1.1 million).
Separately, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer was arrested while attempting to board a flight to Milan, Italy. Operatives searching his luggage discovered more than 10,000 hidden prescription opioid pills—including Tramadol and Tapentadol—wrapped in foil paper and stuffed inside a suitcase.
Mules and Regional Raids
The agency’s dragnet also disrupted international smuggling rings operating through regional airports and commercial courier channels:
- Enugu Airport: Operatives arrested a passenger arriving from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa who subsequently excreted nearly 200 grams of ingested cocaine while under medical observation.
- Postal Interceptions: In Lagos, digital scanning at a courier firm exposed ecstasy pills hidden inside a bicycle luggage carrier bound for the Netherlands, alongside Tramadol concealed in soap and body cream containers addressed to the US and the UK.
- Mainland Cartels: Overland raids across the federation led to the dismantling of major domestic distribution hubs, including the discovery of a warehouse in Ekiti State containing more than 1,100 kilograms of cannabis and the interception of 196,000 psychoactive pills along a major transit highway in Kano.
Retired Brigadier General Buba Marwa, the Chairman of the NDLEA, commended the frontline officers for the increase in high-profile seizures and directed teams to continue aggressive supply-reduction operations to prevent the nation from turning into a major hub for international cartels.
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