The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted consignments of captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug”, and millions of opioid pills worth more than N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The agency said the captagon shipment was intercepted on August 22, 2026, following the arrest of a 49-year-old cross-border drug kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.
According to the NDLEA, a search of a carton containing local bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana Soap”, led to the discovery of 47,200 pills of the illicit amphetamine drug concealed inside blocks of soap. The consignment was valued at more than N1.5 billion.
The agency said captagon, which has been linked to the financing of extremist activities in conflict zones, was first intercepted in Nigeria by the NDLEA in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
Following his arrest, Aikins allegedly told operatives that he was expected to deliver the consignment in Northern Nigeria.
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 2,787.40kg in total and estimated to have a street value of more than N4.6 billion.
The drugs were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the airport.
Three consignments containing 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.40kg arrived on RwandAir flights from Bangladesh, while the fourth consignment contained 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972kg and arrived through Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.
The shipments were placed under surveillance after no one came forward to claim them before they were formally retrieved during a joint examination involving NDLEA officials, Customs and other stakeholders on August 28.
Meanwhile, a 31-year-old US returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, was arrested on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki, Lagos, after allegedly attempting to collect 3.350kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt and recovered a fireproof iron safe.
When the safe was opened with a welding machine on August 25, operatives recovered 237 grammes of Colorado, 316 grammes of cocaine and 10 grammes of heroin.
In Ondo State, three suspects identified as Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36, were arrested on August 28 along the Ipele-Idoani Road with 728kg of skunk concealed in their truck.
Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested in Aponmu Forest on August 26 with 341kg of the same substance.
The agency also reported the recovery of more than 176,000 assorted opioid pills, including tramadol and Molly, during two operations in Delta State between August 26 and 28.
Meanwhile, NDLEA commands across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation programmes in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers involved in the various operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
He also directed officers to intensify efforts against traffickers who continue to devise new methods of concealing illicit drugs, including hiding them in everyday household items such as soap.
Writing.
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