The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has intercepted consignments of the illicit drug Captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug,” alongside millions of opioid tablets valued at more than N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The agency said its operatives arrested a 49-year-old suspected cross-border drug kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight on August 22, 2026.
A search of his carton of locally made bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana Soap,” uncovered 47,200 Captagon tablets concealed inside the soap blocks. The consignment was estimated to be worth more than N1.5 billion.
Captagon, an illicit amphetamine-based stimulant, has been associated with extremist groups operating in conflict zones. The NDLEA said the drug was first intercepted in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
The suspect reportedly told investigators that he was expected to deliver the consignment to an undisclosed location 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 a combined 2,787.40 kilogrammes and valued at more than N4.6 billion.
The drugs were found in four abandoned consignments at the airport’s import shed. Three consignments containing 900,000 Tramaking tablets arrived from Bangladesh on RwandAir flights, while the fourth, containing 3,000,030 Tapentadol tablets, was transported from Amsterdam by Qatar Airways.
The agency said the consignments were placed under surveillance after no one appeared to claim them and were eventually retrieved on August 28 following a joint examination involving NDLEA officials, the Nigeria Customs Service and other relevant stakeholders.
Also in Lagos, a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, was arrested on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki, while attempting to collect 3.350 kilogrammes of “Loud,” a potent strain of synthetic cannabis allegedly imported from the United Kingdom.
IRON SAFE YIELDS COCAINE, HEROIN IN RIVERS
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided a notorious drug den in the Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt, recovering a fireproof iron safe among other items.
The agency said the safe was forced open with a welding machine on August 25, leading to the recovery of 237 grammes of Colorado cannabis, 316 grammes of cocaine and 10 grammes of heroin.
In Ondo State, three suspects—Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36—were arrested on August 28 along the Ipele-Idoani Road with 728 kilogrammes of skunk allegedly concealed in a truck with registration number KRE 120 XB.
Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were also arrested at Aponmu Forest on August 26, with 341 kilogrammes of the same substance recovered.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Delta State recovered more than 176,000 tablets of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, in two separate operations conducted between August 26 and 28.
Beyond its enforcement activities, the agency said its commands and formations across the country sustained public sensitisation under its War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, campaign.
The campaign targeted schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities, with activities recorded in Gombe, Kano, Edo, Ondo and Taraba states.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retired), commended the officers involved in the various operations and urged them to maintain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
Marwa also directed personnel nationwide to sustain the fight against drug trafficking, particularly as traffickers continue to devise new methods of concealing illicit substances in ordinary household items.