ABUJA – The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted consignments of captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug,” and over 3.9 million opioid tablets worth more than N6.2bn at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The agency also arrested a 49-year-old cross-border drug kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who allegedly arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.
NDLEA operatives reportedly found 47,200 captagon pills worth over N1.5bn concealed inside blocks of local bathing soap, popularly known as Ghana Soap, in a carton belonging to Aikins, following his arrest on Saturday, August 22, 2026. The suspect allegedly told investigators that the consignment was destined for northern Nigeria.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, adding that the seized captagon shipment was intercepted at the Lagos airport following the arrest of the suspected kingpin.
Babafemi said the agency also recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 2,787.40kg and valued at over N4.6bn, from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the airport.
He said three of the consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.40kg and arrived from Bangladesh aboard RwandAir flights, while the fourth contained 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972kg and arrived from Amsterdam on a Qatar Airways flight.
According to him, the consignments were placed under surveillance after no importer appeared to claim them and were eventually retrieved following a joint examination by NDLEA officers, Customs officials and other stakeholders on Friday, August 28.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives arrested a 31-year-old US returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, at Ikate, Lekki, Lagos, on August 19 while allegedly attempting to take delivery of 3.350kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
Safe concealing cocaine, heroin cracked open in Rivers
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt and recovered a fireproof iron safe containing different illicit drugs.
The safe was reportedly opened with a welding machine on Tuesday, August 25, leading to the recovery of 237g of Colorado, 316g of cocaine and 10g of heroin.
In Ondo State, three suspects, Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36, were arrested along the Ipele-Idoani Road on Friday, August 28, with 728kg of skunk concealed in their truck marked KRE 120 XB.
Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested in Aponmu Forest on Wednesday, August 26, with 341kg of skunk.
Meanwhile, more than 176,000 pills of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, were recovered in two separate operations across Delta State between August 26 and 28.
The NDLEA also continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities across the country.
The activities included awareness lectures for students and staff of Markaz Littahfizul Quran Wal Islamiyyat, Dadin Kowa, Gombe; Zangina Islamiyyah Alasawa Kurna, Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State; and youths participating in an adolescent lifestyle programme organised by the NNPCL in Benin City, Edo State.
The Ondo State Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to the state Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the Taraba Command visited Governor Agbu Kefas as part of efforts to strengthen the fight against drug abuse.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta Commands for their successful operations.
Marwa urged NDLEA personnel nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control and intensify the crackdown on traffickers who continue to devise new ways of concealing illicit drugs in ordinary household items, including bathing soap.