Photos: NDLEA Nabs Chinese Woman With 31kg Cannabis At Lagos Airport

According to reports monitored by Ireporter Online, the suspect, who reportedly acquired Malaysian citizenship, was apprehended on Sunday, May 17, 2026, shortly after arriving in Lagos from Thailand via Dubai aboard an Emirates Airline flight.

NDLEA investigators disclosed that the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand before proceeding to Nigeria through the United Arab Emirates with two large boxes allegedly containing the illicit substance. During interrogation, she reportedly claimed to be a caregiver based in Malaysia and said her daughter sponsored her trip. She further told investigators that the consignment was handed to her at the airport in Thailand for delivery in Nigeria after a two-week stay in the Asian country.

In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives also intercepted a large consignment of Tapentadol tablets imported from India. The shipment, which arrived on an Emirates Cargo flight, was reportedly tracked before being transferred by the Nigeria Customs Service on Friday, May 22. Authorities said the 29 cartons contained 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg valued at over ₦2.1 billion.

At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, officials arrested Onyeka Valentine Emeka during passenger clearance for an Ethiopian Airlines flight arriving from Sierra Leone through Addis Ababa. The suspect was subsequently placed under observation and later excreted 185.36 grammes of cocaine.

Meanwhile, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer identified as Babatunde Prosper Afekhide was arrested while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Milan, Italy. A search of his luggage allegedly uncovered 10,280 pills of Tramaking, Tramadol and Tapentadol concealed inside a carton.

The agency also recorded several seizures at a Lagos-based courier company, where operatives intercepted 1,174 MDMA pills hidden in a bicycle luggage carrier destined for the Netherlands. Officials also recovered 66 tramadol tablets concealed in a soap container heading to the United States and 18 tramadol tablets hidden inside a body cream container bound for the United Kingdom.

In Edo State, NDLEA operatives raided the Igwe community in Owan East Local Government Area, recovering 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489 kilogrammes alongside 9 kilogrammes of cannabis seeds. In Kano State, a 30-year-old suspect, Isah Sani, was arrested along the Zaria-Kano road with 196,000 pills of Exol-5.

At the Seme border area of Lagos State, officers uncovered 59 kilogrammes of skunk in a warehouse located in Mowo, Badagry. Another raid in Ikole-Ekiti, Ekiti State, led to the recovery of 1,116 kilogrammes of skunk from a warehouse, while a 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius, was arrested in connection with the seizure.

NDLEA Chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the nationwide operations spanning Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Edo, Ekiti, Kano and Seme. He also urged commands across the country to intensify enforcement efforts and sustain the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse awareness campaigns in schools, workplaces, worship centres and communities.