By Saminu Ibrahim
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted consignments of Captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug,” and millions of opioid tablets worth more than N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), 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 on Saturday, August 22, 2026.
NDLEA operatives, during a search of his carton containing blocks of local bathing soap popularly known as “Ghana Soap,” discovered 47,200 pills of Captagon concealed inside the soap.
The illicit amphetamine drug was valued at more than N1.5 billion.
Aikins reportedly told investigators that he was to deliver the consignment in the northern part of the country.
Captagon has been described as the “Jihadi drug” because of its reported links to the financing and activities of extremist groups in conflict zones.
NDLEA first intercepted the drug in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port, Lagos.
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, the agency recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 2,787.40kg and valued at more than N4.6 billion.
The drugs were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the airport after no one appeared to claim them.
Three of the 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 on Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.
The consignments, which had been placed under surveillance, were formally retrieved following a joint examination by NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders on Friday, August 28.
Meanwhile, a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, was arrested on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki, Lagos, while attempting to take delivery of 3.350kg of Loud, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis allegedly 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 various illicit drugs.
The safe was cracked open with a welding machine on Tuesday, August 25, leading to the recovery of 237 grammes of Colorado, 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 Friday, August 28, along the Ipele-Idoani Road with 728kg of skunk concealed in 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.
In Delta State, more than 176,000 pills of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, were recovered in two separate interdiction operations conducted between Wednesday, August 26, and Friday, August 28.
The NDLEA also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign across the country, taking drug-abuse prevention messages to schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
Among the activities were enlightenment lectures for students and staff of Markaz Littahfizul Quran Wal Islamiyyat, Dadin Kowa, Gombe State, and Zangina Islamiyyah Alasawa Kurna, Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State.
The agency also sensitised youths participating in an adolescent lifestyle programme organised by NNPCL in Benin City, Edo State.
The Ondo State Command paid a WADA advocacy visit to the state governor, Dr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the Taraba Command similarly visited Governor Agbu Kefas.
Commending officers and men of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta Commands for the successful operations, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
Marwa directed the operatives to maintain the momentum against drug traffickers, who, he said, were increasingly adopting unconventional methods, including concealing illicit drugs in everyday household items such as bathing soap.
