NDLEA Intercepts ‘Jihadi Drug’, Opioids Worth N6.2bn at Lagos Airport
…Arrests suspected cross-border kingpin as operatives recover cocaine, heroin from fireproof safe in Rivers drug den
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted consignments of captagon, popularly described as the “Jihadi drug”, and millions of opioid pills with a combined estimated street value of more than N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
The Agency said the seizures were made in separate operations at the international airport, leading to the arrest of a suspected cross-border drug kingpin and the recovery of more than 3.9 million tablets of powerful opioids concealed in abandoned import consignments.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the captagon shipment was intercepted on Saturday, August 22, following the arrest of a 49-year-old suspect, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, shortly after he arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana.
Aikins was said to have arrived aboard an African World Airlines flight carrying a carton containing locally made bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana Soap”.
However, a search of the carton by NDLEA operatives reportedly led to the discovery of 47,200 pills of captagon concealed inside blocks of soap. The illicit amphetamine drug was valued at more than N1.5 billion.
The NDLEA said the suspect, described as a cross-border drug kingpin, allegedly claimed after his arrest that he was expected to deliver the consignment to a destination in northern Nigeria.
Captagon has gained notoriety internationally because of its association with criminal networks and its reported use in financing extremist activities in conflict zones, earning it the nickname “Jihadi drug”.
The NDLEA recalled that the substance was first intercepted in Nigeria in September 2021 when operatives discovered a shipment at the Apapa port in Lagos.
In another major operation at the Lagos airport, the Agency recovered no fewer than 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA.
The opioid tablets had a combined gross weight of 2,787.40 kilogrammes and an estimated street value of more than N4.6 billion.
Three of the consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.40kg and arrived in Nigeria from Bangladesh aboard RwandAir flights.
The fourth consignment, containing 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol and weighing 1,972kg, was transported aboard a Qatar Airways flight from Amsterdam.
NDLEA said the shipments were placed under surveillance after nobody came forward to claim them.
The consignments were eventually formally retrieved following a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other relevant stakeholders on Friday, August 28.
Meanwhile, a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, was arrested on August 19 at Ikate in the Lekki area of Lagos.
The NDLEA alleged that Oludotun was arrested when he arrived to take delivery of 3.350 kilogrammes 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, where they recovered a fireproof iron safe and other items suspected to be connected to drug trafficking activities.
The Agency said the safe was cracked open with the aid of a welding machine on Tuesday, August 25. A search of the safe led 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.
The operatives reportedly recovered a total of 728kg of skunk from a truck with registration number KRE 120 XB.
In a separate operation, 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 allegedly recovered from them.
The NDLEA also said its operatives in Delta State intercepted more than 176,000 pills of assorted opioids, including tramadol and molly, during two separate interdiction operations carried out between August 26 and August 28.
Beyond the enforcement operations, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns during the week.
The campaigns included enlightenment lectures for students and staff of Markaz Littahfizul Quran Wal Islamiyyat in Dadin Kowa, Gombe State, and Zangina Islamiyyah Alasawa Kurna in Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State.
NDLEA officers also engaged young people during an adolescent lifestyle programme organised by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in Benin City, Edo State.
In Ondo State, the NDLEA Command paid a WADA advocacy visit to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the Taraba State Command undertook a similar visit to Governor Agbu Kefas.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers and men of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta Commands for the successful operations.
Marwa urged them and other personnel across the country to sustain the Agency’s balanced approach to drug control, combining enforcement with preventive advocacy and sensitisation.
He also directed officers to maintain pressure on drug traffickers, warning that criminal networks were increasingly seeking innovative methods to conceal and transport illicit substances.
The NDLEA boss particularly noted the use of everyday household items, including bathing soap, as concealment methods, and urged operatives to remain vigilant as traffickers continued to explore new ways of moving illegal drug consignments across the country’s borders.
