A Chinese grandmother is detained by NDLEA at the Lagos airport for allegedly trying to smuggle synthetic cannabis into Nigeria.

The suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria through the UAE.

A 63-year-old Chinese grandmother was detained by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) after she attempted to smuggle a sizable shipment of suspected Canadian “loud,” a synthetic cannabis strain, into Nigeria.

This was announced in a statement on Sunday in Abuja by Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy.

According to Mr. Babafemi, the Chinese national who obtained Malaysian citizenship was detained on May 17 after traveling from Thailand to Nigeria via Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on an Emirates Airlines flight.

He claimed that NDLEA agents stationed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport’s (MMIA) Terminal 2 Arrival Hall in Ikeja, Lagos, had apprehended the suspect.

Additionally, he stated that investigations showed the suspect traveled from Malaysia to Thailand and then to Nigeria via the United Arab Emirates with two sizable travel boxes that contained the 31.0 kg of suspected synthetic cannabis.

The 63-year-old suspect, who says she works as a caregiver in Malaysia, claimed in an interview that her daughter paid for her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and then Nigeria, according to Mr. Babafemi.

“She added that she was in Thailand for two weeks before being given the illegal shipment to deliver in Nigeria at the airport in Thailand.”

Additionally, Mr. Babafemi reported that another significant shipment of illegal drugs was found at the Lagos airport’s import shed.

According to him, the interception came after NDLEA agents closely monitored the shipment since it arrived from India on an Emirates cargo flight.

He disclosed that on May 22, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) gave the NDLEA the 29 large cartons containing 1,825,710 suspected Tapentadol 250mg tablets, valued at N2.1 billion.

He also mentioned that on May 20, NDLEA agents at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu successfully apprehended another suspect.

According to him, this occurred while passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone were being cleared for entry through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

He stated, “The suspect excreted a total of 185.36 grams of substance suspected to be cocaine when placed under observation.”

Additionally, he stated that on May 21, a 29-year-old building engineer was detained by NDLEA agents at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja while trying to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Abuja via Addis Ababa to Milan Malpensa, Italy.

According to the NDLEA director of media and advocacy, 10,280 suspected pills containing 225 mg of Tramaking, 200 mg of Tramadol, and 250 mg of Tapentadol were found during a search of his luggage.

He claimed that in order to avoid detection, the materials were concealed using foil paper and placed inside a carton inside a suitcase.

He continued by saying that NDLEA agents had discovered 1,174 suspected MDMA (Ecstasy) pills hidden in a bicycle luggage carrier bound for the Netherlands during yet another operation at a courier company in Lagos.

Additionally, we found 66 suspected tramadol 225 mg pills hidden in a soap container bound for the United States and 18 suspected tramadol 225 mg tablets hidden in a body cream container bound for the United Kingdom.

During an intelligence-driven raid on the Igwe community in Owan East LGA in Edo, 59 jumbo bags containing 489 kg of suspected skunk and 9 kg of cannabis seeds were found.

On May 20, along the Zaria/Kano road in Kano State, another suspect was apprehended with 196,000 pills of what appeared to be exol-5.

On May 17, he said, “NDLEA officers at the Seme border in the Badagry area of Lagos also recovered 59 kg of substance suspected of being skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry.”

Mr. Babafemi added that another operational success was noted in Ekiti State, where on Saturday NDLEA agents raided a warehouse at No. 56, Ikoyi community, Ikole-Ekiti, and found 1,116 kg of what they believed to be skunk.

In relation to the seizure, he continued, a 54-year-old suspect was taken into custody.

He stated that during the reviewed week, the agency’s commands and formations nationwide carried out their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization efforts in communities, workplaces, schools, and places of worship, among other places.

The retired NDLEA chairman, Brig., was cited by Mr. Babafemi. -Gen. Buba Marwa, praising the officers and personnel of DOGI, MMIA, NAIA, AIIA, Edo, Ekiti, Seme, and Kano commands for the seizures and arrests.

Mr. Marwa pointed out that their efforts to reduce the drug supply were balanced with WADA sensitization campaigns.

He ordered all NDLEA employees nationwide to keep elevating the operation.