Chinese Grandmother Nabbed as NDLEA Seizes N2.1bln Drugs Nationwide

The arrest formed part of a nationwide anti-narcotics operation that led to multiple seizures and arrests across Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Edo, Ekiti and Kano states, with illicit drugs valued at over N2.1 billion recovered.

Details of the operations were contained in an email sent to Persecondnews by the Director of Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi on Sunday.

NDLEA said the suspect, who reportedly naturalised in Malaysia, was intercepted on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Lagos airport after arriving from Thailand via Dubai on an Emirates Airlines flight.

Upon interrogation, the suspect, who claimed she works as a caregiver in Malaysia, said her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria.

She further stated that she spent about two weeks in Thailand before she allegedly received two suitcases containing the illicit consignment at a Thai airport for delivery in Nigeria.

In another operation at a courier company in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA (Ecstasy) concealed in a bicycle luggage carrier headed for the Netherlands, 66 pills of Tramadol 225mg hidden in a soap container bound for the United States, and 18 tablets of Tramadol 225mg concealed in a body cream container destined for the United Kingdom.

Simultaneously, operatives in Lagos intercepted 29 cartons of Tapentadol 250mg containing 1,825,710 tablets, valued at about N2.19 billion, at the airport import shed following close monitoring of the shipment from India via an Emirates cargo flight.

In a separate move, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide, a 29-year-old building engineer, was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Wednesday, May 21, while attempting to board a flight to Milan, Italy via Addis Ababa.

A total of 10,280 pills of opioids, including Tramaking 225mg, Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg, were discovered concealed in foil paper and hidden inside a carton after a search of his luggage.

At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, operatives arrested Onyeka Valentine Emeka on May 20 during inward clearance of passengers from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa.

Also in Edo State, NDLEA operatives raided Igwe community in Owan East LGA, recovering 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489 kilograms and 9 kilograms of cannabis seeds.

Meanwhile on Tuesday 19th May, in Kano State, Isah Sani, 30, was arrested with 196,000 pills of exol-5 along the Zaria–Kano road on May 20, while operatives at Seme border in Badagry recovered 59kg of skunk from a warehouse in Mowo.

In Ekiti State, a warehouse raid on Saturday May 23, in Ikole-Ekiti led to the recovery of 1,116kg of skunk and the arrest of a 54-year-old suspect, Ogundana Adebayo Julius.

The NDLEA also said the agency is continuing its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign across schools, worship centres and communities nationwide.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa lauded the officers involved in the operations and urged sustained action against drug trafficking networks across the country.