NDLEA Recovers 3.9m Tramaking, Tapentadol Tablets, Seizes N6.2bn ‘Jihadi Drug’, Opioids at Lagos Airport
*Intercepts Nearly 4 Million Opioid Tablets
*As US Returnee Arrested in Lekki
*Cocaine, Heroin Recovered from Iron Safe in Rivers
*1,069kg of Cannabis Seized in Ondo
*Over 176,000 Opioid Pills Seized in Delta
*NDLEA Intensifies Anti-Drug Campaign
By KEMI KASUMU
Beyond arrests and seizures, the agency said its commands and formations nationwide continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation programmes in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted consignments of captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug,” and millions of opioid tablets with a combined street value of more than N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The agency also arrested a suspected cross-border drug kingpin and recovered cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances during separate operations across the country.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, operatives seized the captagon consignment on Saturday, August 22, 2026, following the arrest of 49-year-old Akinbile Kazeem Aikins.
Aikins, who arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight, was arrested after NDLEA officers searched his carton containing local bathing soap popularly known as “Ghana Soap.”
The search led to the discovery of 47,200 captagon pills, valued at more than N1.5 billion, concealed inside blocks of soap.
The NDLEA said Aikins claimed after his arrest that he was expected to deliver the consignment to someone in northern Nigeria.
Captagon is an illicit amphetamine-based drug that has been associated with armed groups and conflict zones in the Middle East, leading to its popular description as the “Jihadi drug.” The NDLEA said the substance was first intercepted in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 2,787.40 kilogrammes and estimated to have a combined street value of more than N4.6 billion.
The drugs were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA after no one came forward to claim them.
Three of the consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.40kg and 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 had been placed under surveillance after they were abandoned. They were formally retrieved on Friday, August 28, following a joint examination by NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other relevant stakeholders.
Meanwhile, a 31-year-old US returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, was arrested by NDLEA operatives on August 19 in the Ikate area of Lekki, Lagos.
He was arrested after allegedly showing up to take delivery of 3.350kg of “Loud,” a potent 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 among other items.
The agency said the safe was broken 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 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 with 728kg of skunk concealed in their truck, marked KRE 120 XB.
Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested in Aponmu Forest on Wednesday, August 26, with another 341kg of the same substance.
The combined seizure from the two operations amounted to 1,069kg of cannabis.
In Delta State, NDLEA operatives also recovered more than 176,000 pills of assorted opioids, including tramadol and molly, during two interdiction operations conducted between Wednesday, August 26, and Friday, August 28.
Beyond arrests and seizures, the agency said its commands and formations nationwide continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation programmes in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
Among the activities were 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.
The agency also engaged youths participating in an adolescent lifestyle programme organised by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in Benin City, Edo State.
The Ondo State Command paid a WADA advocacy visit to the state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the Taraba Command similarly visited Governor Agbu Kefas.
Commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta commands for their operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), urged personnel across the country 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 everyday household items such as soap.
