Crime & Justice
NDLEA Intercepts Chinese Grandmother with Large Illicit Drug Consignment at Lagos Airport
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 63-year-old Chinese grandmother, Ting Hung Kiong, following her attempt to smuggle a large consignment of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, into Nigeria.
The Chinese national, who is naturalised in Malaysia, was arrested on May 17, 2026, upon her arrival in Nigeria from Thailand via Dubai, UAE, aboard an Emirates Airline flight. She was intercepted by NDLEA operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
A statement by the NDLEA spokesperson, Mr Femi Babafemi, on Sunday said investigations revealed that the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria via the UAE with two large travel boxes containing the synthetic cannabis consignment weighing 31.0 kilograms.
During an interview, the 63-year-old suspect, who claimed to work as a caregiver in Malaysia, stated that her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria. She further disclosed that she spent two weeks in Thailand before she was handed the illicit consignment at the airport to deliver in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the statement said another major illicit drug consignment was recovered at the import shed of the Lagos airport. Following close monitoring of the shipment by NDLEA operatives since its arrival from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, the 29 large cartons containing 1.8 million tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, worth ₦2,190,852,000, were eventually handed over to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday.
In another successful interdiction operation, NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu State, on May 20, intercepted a suspect, Onyeka Valentine Emeka, during the inward clearance of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. When placed under observation, the suspect excreted a total of 185.36 grams of cocaine.
At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, was arrested by NDLEA operatives on May 21 while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Abuja via Addis Ababa to Milan Malpensa, Italy. A search of his luggage led to the recovery of 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg, Tramadol 200mg, and Tapentadol 250mg. The opioids were concealed with foil paper and hidden inside a carton in a suitcase, apparently to evade detection.
In another operation at a courier company in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA (Ecstasy) concealed in a bicycle luggage carrier bound for the Netherlands; 66 pills of Tramadol 225mg hidden in a soap container destined for the United States; and 18 tablets of Tramadol 225mg concealed in a body cream container heading to the United Kingdom.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, raided the Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, where a total of 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489kg and cannabis seeds weighing 9kg were recovered.
Similarly, a suspect, Isah Sani, was arrested with 196,000 pills of Exol-5 on May 20 along the Zaria–Kano Road in Kano State, while NDLEA officers at the Seme border in the Badagry area of Lagos recovered 59kg of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry, on May 19.
Babafemi said another operational success was recorded in Ekiti State, where NDLEA operatives on Saturday raided a warehouse located at N/56, Ikoyi community, Ikole-Ekiti, and recovered 1,116 kilograms of skunk. A 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
With the same zeal, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities, among others, in the past week.
While commending officers and men of the various commands, as well as those of DOGI, for the arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, noted that their drug supply reduction efforts were balanced with WADA sensitisation activities and charged them and their compatriots across the country to continue raising the operational bar.
The Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, arraigned a businessman, Christopher Elendu Enyinnwa, before Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, over an alleged ₦30.14 million fraud.
Enyinnwa was arraigned on a four-count charge bordering on fraudulent conversion and obtaining money under false pretences in connection with the proposed supply of slippers from China.
The defendant was alleged to have collected a total of ₦30,140,000 from the petitioner, Chidebere Love Okafor, for the supply of slippers from China.
Count One reads: “Christopher Elendu Enyinwa sometime in August 2024, at Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division, fraudulently converted for your own use the sum of Two Million Naira (₦2,000,000.00), property of Chidebere Love Okafor.”
Count Two reads: “Christopher Elendu Enyinwa sometime in August 2024, at Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division, fraudulently converted for your own use the sum of Eleven Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Three Thousand Naira (₦11,923,000.00), property of Chidebere Love Okafor.”
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following his plea, prosecution counsel, Fanen Anum, informed the court that the prosecution was ready for trial and had two witnesses available in court.
Defence counsel, K.C. Atuenyi, however, sought an adjournment to enable him to prepare for trial, explaining that he had prepared only for the arraignment.
Justice Abike-Fadipe overruled the defence request and directed the prosecution to call its first witness.
The first prosecution witness, PW1, Okafor Love Chidebere, who works at Gomac Industry Nigeria Limited and is the petitioner, told the court that she knew the defendant as a fellow church member.
According to her, Enyinnwa had told her that he travelled to China for business and could assist her in purchasing slippers from China.
She said, “He is my church member. I knew him in church. He told me he buys goods, and I approached him to buy slippers in China for me.”
The witness explained that, after discussing the product she wanted to purchase, she gave the defendant a sample of the slippers to take to China.
She said the defendant subsequently provided a price for the goods, which she initially considered high because she was negotiating with another company offering a lower price.
According to her, she eventually trusted Enyinnwa because he was her church member and agreed to proceed with the transaction.
She told the court that the defendant requested an initial deposit of ₦2 million, which she paid into his Access Bank account in August 2024.
The witness further stated that, after the defendant returned from China, he showed them samples of the slippers, following which some amendments were made and the samples were returned to him.
She said the defendant later requested ₦11,923,000 to commence production, which was also paid into his Access Bank account.
According to her, the defendant subsequently demanded another ₦15 million as the balance, which was paid to him.
She said, “After that, he told us that he will go back to ship the goods in a very short while.”
However, when the defendant did not travel as expected, the witness said they contacted him, and he claimed that he was having issues with his travel documents.
She further told the court that, after several calls, the defendant requested another ₦2 million to facilitate his travel documents.
According to her, she and her husband agreed to provide the money because they wanted him to travel back to China and complete the transaction.
The witness said the defendant eventually travelled to China in February 2025 and later informed them that he had shipped goods, including clothes, and would provide the relevant documents when the shipment arrived.
She said the goods, however, did not arrive as promised.
The witness further narrated that her pastor subsequently summoned her to his office and informed her that some of the defendant’s claims were allegedly untrue.
She said members of the church intervened in the matter and the defendant promised to refund the money, but had yet to do so.
According to PW1, “The total amount is ₦30,140,000. Up till now, I have not seen the goods and the money.”
During cross-examination, defence counsel, K.C. Atuenyi, requested another date to cross-examine the witness.
The prosecution thereafter urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility.
Justice Abike-Fadipe adjourned the matter to November 26, December 16 and 17, 2026, for continuation of trial and ordered that the defendant be remanded in a correctional facility.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has intercepted two persons in Adamawa State with ₦34 million in cash, with the suspects allegedly linked to a kidnapping syndicate.
The suspects were intercepted with the cash during an operation in the state.
The Comptroller of Immigration Service, Sani Sule-Jega, disclosed this at a media briefing in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
According to him, preliminary investigations showed that the suspects claimed the money was intended to pay ransom for their abducted brother.
In a separate operation, the Adamawa State Command of the NIS also intercepted 17 irregular migrants at Rumde Baruw in Yola North Local Government Area of the state.
The undocumented migrants were intercepted at a private three-bedroom residence during an operation by officers of the command.
Sule-Jega said preliminary profiling showed that 13 of the migrants were Cameroonian nationals, comprising eight males and five females, while the remaining four were Chadian nationals, all males.
The Comptroller noted a shift in the accommodation pattern of undocumented migrants, particularly their increasing use of private and unregistered apartments instead of conventional lodging facilities such as hotels.
He said the service was intensifying surveillance and intelligence-led operations to identify and address emerging patterns of irregular migration in the state.
Sule-Jega reiterated the command’s commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s territorial integrity, improving migration management and strengthening border security.
He urged members of the public to remain vigilant and provide credible information that could assist security agencies in maintaining peace and security across the state.
The suspects and recovered cash have been taken into custody for further investigation and necessary action in accordance with established procedures and applicable laws.
The Comptroller General of Immigration has directed that the suspects and exhibits be handed over to the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.
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