Lagos Court Hands Chinese Woman Two-Year Term for Importing 31kg of Cannabis
A 60-year-old Chinese citizen, Ting Hong Kiong, has been sentenced to two years in prison by the Federal High Court in Lagos after admitting to bringing 31 kilogrammes of Cannabis sativa into Nigeria without legal permission.
The sentence was imposed by Justice Musa Kakaki following Kiong's guilty plea to a one-count drug trafficking charge filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The judge directed that the prison term commence on 17 May 2026, which was the day she was taken into custody.
Earlier in the proceedings, NDLEA prosecuting counsel Cyril Osaigbo told the court that Kiong was apprehended at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos. Her arrest took place while passengers were being cleared on arrival aboard an Emirates Airlines flight that had departed Bangkok, Thailand, and stopped in Dubai before reaching Lagos.
Osaigbo alleged that Kiong was discovered with 31 kilogrammes of Cannabis sativa, a narcotic substance, and had no lawful authority to possess it. The offence falls under Section 11(a) of the NDLEA Act and attracts punishment under the same section.
When the charge was read to her, Kiong pleaded guilty. The prosecutor then asked the court for permission to review the facts of the case. He tendered documentary exhibits and the bulk of the cannabis sativa said to have been recovered from the defendant. After the evidence was presented, Osaigbovo urged the court to convict Kiong based on her guilty plea and the uncontroverted evidence before it. Justice Kakaki then convicted her.
Pleading for leniency, defence counsel Chief Benson Ndakara asked the court to temper justice with mercy. He submitted that his client had shown remorse by pleading guilty without delay and had not wasted the court's time. Ndakara informed the court that Kiong, aged 60, had learnt her lesson and would not commit the offence again.
The lawyer also described his client as a "victim of circumstances", claiming she had allegedly come under the influence of a person who presented himself as a lover but had ulterior motives. "She interacted with a person wiser than her who proposed love on one hand, but with an ulterior motive," Ndakara stated. He asked the court to impose a non-custodial sentence or a fine, offering to personally bear the financial consequences. "She has been abandoned. I ask for mercy from the temple of justice," he pleaded.
In his judgment, however, Justice Kakaki said the court could not overlook the gravity of drug trafficking and its impact on society and Nigeria's reputation. The judge held that Kiong was aware of her actions, adding that the prevalence of hard drugs and the harm they cause to society made it necessary for the court to impose an appropriate sentence. Justice Kakaki consequently sentenced her to two years' imprisonment, with effect from 17 May 2026.
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