The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted consignments of captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug”, and millions of opioid tablets worth over 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 arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight on Saturday, August 22, 2026.
According to the NDLEA, a search of Aikins’ carton of local bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana Soap”, led to the discovery of 47,200 pills of captagon concealed inside blocks of soap. The consignment was valued at over N1.5 billion.
Captagon, an illicit amphetamine-based drug, has been dubbed the “Jihadi drug” because of its reported links to extremist activities in conflict zones. The NDLEA said it first intercepted the substance in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
During interrogation, Aikins reportedly told investigators that he was expected to deliver the consignment to an unidentified location in northern Nigeria.
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 2,787.40kg and estimated to be worth more than N4.6 billion.
The drugs were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA after no one showed up to claim them.
Three of the consignments, containing 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.40kg, arrived aboard RwandAir flights from Bangladesh, while the fourth consignment, comprising 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972kg, arrived on Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.
The NDLEA said the shipments were placed under close watch before being formally retrieved following a joint examination involving its 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, after he allegedly attempted 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 safe was cracked open with a welding machine on Tuesday, August 25, leading to the recovery of 237 grammes of Colorado cannabis, 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 a truck marked 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 the same substance.
The NDLEA further disclosed that more than 176,000 tablets of assorted opioids, including tramadol and molly, were recovered in two separate operations conducted in parts of Delta State between August 26 and 28.
Beyond arrests and seizures, the agency said its commands and formations across the country continued with War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation programmes in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
Among the activities were enlightenment lectures at Markaz Littahfizul Quran Wal Islamiyyat, Dadin Kowa, Gombe State, and Zangina Islamiyyah Alasawa Kurna, Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State.
The agency also engaged youths at an adolescent lifestyle programme organised by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in Benin City, Edo State.
Similarly, the Ondo State Command paid a WADA advocacy visit to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the Taraba Command visited Governor Agbu Kefas.
Commending officers and men of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta Commands for the successful operations, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
Marwa also directed officers to maintain pressure on drug traffickers, who, he said, were increasingly adopting unconventional methods, including concealing illicit drugs in ordinary household items such as soap, to evade detection.
