NDLEA Seizes N6.2bn ‘Jihadi Drug’, 3.9m Opioid Pills at Lagos Airport
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted consignments of captagon, popularly known as “Jihadi drug”, and millions of opioid tablets with a combined street value exceeding N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The agency also arrested a suspected cross-border drug trafficking kingpin and recovered cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances in separate operations across several states.
According to a statement released by the NDLEA on Sunday, the captagon consignment was intercepted on August 22, 2026, following the arrest of 49-year-old Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.
A search of his carton containing locally produced bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana Soap”, led to the discovery of 47,200 captagon pills concealed inside the soap blocks. The consignment was valued at more than N1.5 billion.
The NDLEA described captagon as an illicit amphetamine-type drug that has been associated with financing extremist activities in conflict zones. The agency said it first intercepted the substance in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
Following his arrest, Aikins reportedly told investigators 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, with a combined gross weight of 2,787.40kg and an estimated street value of more than N4.6 billion.
The drugs were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA after no one came forward to claim them.
Three of the consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.40kg and arrived on RwandAir flights from Bangladesh, while the fourth contained 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972kg and arrived aboard Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.
The consignments, which had been placed under surveillance, were formally retrieved on August 28 following a joint examination by NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders.
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Meanwhile, a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, was arrested on August 19 in the Ikate area of Lekki, Lagos, after allegedly attempting to take delivery of 3.35kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
NDLEA Recovers Cocaine, Heroin from Iron Safe in Rivers
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt, recovering a fireproof iron safe containing different illicit substances.
The agency said the safe was opened with a welding machine on August 25, leading to the recovery of 237g of Colorado cannabis, 316g of cocaine and 10g 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 728kg of skunk concealed in a truck marked KRE 120 XB.
Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested in Aponmu Forest on August 26, with an additional 341kg of skunk recovered.
The NDLEA also reported the seizure of more than 176,000 tablets of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, in two separate interdiction operations conducted in Delta State between August 26 and 28.
Beyond its enforcement operations, the agency said its commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The campaigns included enlightenment programmes in Gombe and Kano, an adolescent lifestyle programme organised by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in Benin City, Edo State, and advocacy visits by the NDLEA commands in Ondo and Taraba to the state governors, Lucky Aiyedatiwa and Agbu Kefas, respectively.
Commending officers of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta commands for their operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
Marwa also directed officers to maintain the momentum against drug traffickers who continue to devise new methods of concealing and transporting illicit substances, including hiding drugs in everyday household items.
By PRNigeria
