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 disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the NDLEA, its operatives at the Lagos airport on Saturday, August 22, 2026, arrested a 49-year-old alleged cross-border drug kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.
A search of a carton of local bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana Soap,” in his possession led to the discovery of 47,200 pills of captagon concealed inside blocks of soap.
The NDLEA said the consignment was worth more than N1.5 billion.
Captagon is an illicit amphetamine-based stimulant that has been associated with trafficking and use in conflict zones and has been dubbed the “Jihadi drug” because of its reported links to extremist networks.
The agency said captagon was first intercepted in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
Following his arrest, Aikins allegedly told investigators that he was expected to deliver the consignment to an unidentified recipient in northern Nigeria.
In a separate operation at the MMIA, 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 discovered in four abandoned consignments at the airport’s import shed after no one came forward to claim them.
The agency said three of the consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking, weighing 815.40kg, which arrived on RwandAir flights from Bangladesh.
The fourth consignment contained 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol, weighing 1,972kg, and was transported aboard Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.
The consignments had been placed under surveillance before NDLEA operatives, working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders, conducted a joint examination and formally retrieved them on Friday, August 28.
Meanwhile, the agency also arrested a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki, Lagos.
Oludotun was allegedly arrested while attempting to take delivery of 3.350kg of Loud, a potent 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 various illicit drugs.
The agency said the safe was eventually opened 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 identified as Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36, were arrested on Friday, August 28, along the Ipele-Idoani Road.
The suspects were allegedly found transporting 728kg of skunk 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 Wednesday, August 26, with 341kg of skunk.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives in Delta State recovered more than 176,000 tablets of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, during two separate interdiction operations conducted between August 26 and 28.
Commending officers and personnel of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta Commands, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
Marwa said drug traffickers were becoming increasingly desperate and adopting new methods to move illicit consignments.
He specifically warned against the concealment of 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,” he said.
Marwa urged NDLEA personnel to remain vigilant and intensify the fight against drug trafficking across the country.
