Monday, August 31, 2026 - The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted consignments of captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug,” and millions of opioid tablets worth over N6.2bn at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The agency disclosed this in a statement on Sunday by its
director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the NDLEA, operatives at the Lagos airport on
Saturday, August 22, 2026, arrested a 49-year-old cross-border drug kingpin,
Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World
Airlines flight.
The statement partly read, ‘NDLEA intercepted consignments
of captagon, widely known as the ‘Jihadi drug’ and millions of opioid pills
worth over N6.2bn at the MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos.
“The captagon shipment was seized at the Lagos airport on
Saturday, August 22, 2026, following the arrest of a 49-year-old cross-border
kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra, Ghana, aboard an
African World Airlines flight.
“A search of his carton of local bathing soap, popularly
called ‘Ghana Soap’, led to the recovery of 47,200 pills of the illicit
amphetamine drug worth over N1.5bn concealed within blocks of soap.
“Captagon, which is notoriously dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ for
its use in funding extremist activities in conflict zones, was first
intercepted in Nigeria by the NDLEA in September 2021 at the Apapa port in
Lagos. After his arrest, Akinbile claimed he was meant to deliver the
consignment in the North.”
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 N4.6bn.
The drugs were recovered from four abandoned consignments at
the import shed of the MMIA after no one showed up to claim them.
The agency said three of the consignments contained 900,000
tablets of Tramaking, weighing 815.40 kg, which arrived on RwandAir flights
from Bangladesh.
The fourth consignment 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 following a joint examination by NDLEA operatives, the
Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders on Friday, August 28.
Also, a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David
Oludotun, was arrested on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki, Lagos, after he allegedly
showed up to take delivery of 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 containing
different illicit drugs.
The agency said the safe was cracked open with a welding
machine on Tuesday, 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 Friday, August 28, along the
Ipele-Idoani Road with 728kg of skunk recovered from their truck marked KRE 120
XB.
Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21,
were arrested at Aponmu Forest on Wednesday, August 26, with 341kg of the same
substance.
Similarly, in Delta State, more than 176,000 pills of
assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, were recovered in two
interdiction operations conducted between Wednesday, August 26, and Friday,
August 28.
Commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta
Commands for the operations, the 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 the operatives to maintain the momentum
against drug traffickers who, he said, were becoming increasingly desperate and
exploring different methods to move illicit consignments.
He specifically warned against attempts to conceal drugs in
everyday household items.
“Drug traffickers are desperate to explore every means,
including concealment in everyday household items like soap, to move their
illicit consignments,” Marwa said.
He urged NDLEA personnel to remain vigilant and sustain
their efforts against drug trafficking across the country.
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