In a massive nationwide sweep, NDLEA operatives shatter transnational syndicates, seizing billions in illicit pharmaceuticals and netting a 63-year-old traveler who was intercepted with Canadian Loud.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese national following her audacious attempt to smuggle a large consignment of Canadian Loud, a highly potent synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria.
In an official operational statement released on Sunday in Abuja by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, it was disclosed that the suspect, a Chinese national who naturalized in Malaysia, was apprehended on May 17, 2026.
The elderly traveler arrived in the country from Thailand via Dubai, United Arab Emirates, aboard an Emirates Airline commercial flight. Security operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos, meticulously flagged and intercepted her before she could exit the facility.
Subsequent profiling and investigations revealed that the suspect had traveled from Malaysia to Thailand to aggregate the contraband before heading to Nigeria. A detailed physical search of her two large travel boxes uncovered the hidden synthetic cannabis consignment, which weighed an impressive 31.0 kilograms.
During her custodial interview, the 63-year-old suspect, who claimed to work as a caregiver in Malaysia, alleged that her trip was entirely sponsored by her daughter. She further stated that she had spent two weeks in Thailand before being handed the illicit luggage at the international airport with strict instructions to deliver the consignment to an undisclosed recipient in Nigeria.
Massive ₦2.1 Billion Opioid Seizure at Lagos Import Shed
Beyond the airport arrival halls, the NDLEA recorded another massive breakthrough at the cargo import shed of the Lagos airport. Following days of intelligence-driven monitoring of a suspicious shipment that arrived from India via an Emirates Cargo flight, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) officially handed over 29 large cartons to the NDLEA on May 22. The recovery yielded a staggering 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol (250mg) valued at a street worth of ₦2.1 billion.
Nationwide Sweeps Take Down Regional Drug Hubs
The agency’s aggressive drug supply reduction strategy yielded several other high-profile arrests across major subnational commands within the week under review:
Enugu State: On May 20, operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA) intercepted a traveler during the inward clearance of an Ethiopian Airlines flight arriving from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa. The suspect was placed under clinical observation and subsequently excreted 185.36 grammes of raw cocaine.
Abuja (FCT): A 29-year-old building engineer was arrested on May 21 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) while attempting to board a flight to Milan, Italy. A luggage search uncovered 10,280 pills of Tramaking (225mg), Tramadol (200mg), and Tapentadol (250mg) tightly wrapped in foil paper inside his suitcase.
Lagos & Seme Border: At a Lagos courier firm, operatives discovered 1,174 MDMA (Ecstasy) pills hidden inside a bicycle luggage carrier bound for the Netherlands. Meanwhile, border patrol units at the Seme Command raided a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry, recovering 59kg of skunk.
Edo & Ekiti States: Intelligence raids in the Igwe community (Edo State) uncovered 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489kg alongside 9kg of cannabis seeds. In Ekiti, a major warehouse in Ikole-Ekiti was busted, resulting in the seizure of 1,116kg of skunk and the arrest of a 54-year-old suspect.
Reacting to the sweeps, the Chairman of the NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), highly commended the tactical officers across the MMIA, NAIA, AIIA, Edo, Ekiti, Seme, and Kano formations. Marwa praised the striking balance between the agency’s rigorous enforcement actions and its ongoing grassroots War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns, charging all personnel to continually raise the operational bar against transnational cartels.
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