Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted consignments of captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug,” and millions of opioid tablets worth more than N6.2 billion in separate operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The agency said a 49-year-old cross-border drug kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, was arrested on Saturday, August 22, 2026, after arriving in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight. A search of his carton of locally made bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana Soap,” led to the discovery of 47,200 captagon pills, valued at over N1.5 billion, concealed inside blocks of soap. The suspect reportedly told operatives that he was to deliver the consignment in northern Nigeria.
In a separate operation, NDLEA recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 2,787.40 kilogrammes and valued at more than N4.6 billion, from four abandoned consignments at the airport’s import shed. Three consignments containing 900,000 Tramaking tablets arrived from Bangladesh aboard RwandAir flights, while 3,000,030 Tapentadol tablets arrived from Amsterdam on Qatar Airways. The consignments were placed under surveillance after nobody appeared to claim them and were formally retrieved on August 28 following a joint examination involving NDLEA, Customs and other stakeholders.
The agency also reported major seizures and arrests in other states. In Rivers State, officers raided a notorious drug den in the Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt, where a fireproof iron safe was recovered and later opened with a welding machine. Inside were 237 grammes of Colorado, 316 grammes of cocaine and 10 grammes of heroin. In Ondo State, five suspects were arrested in separate operations, with a combined 1,069 kilogrammes of skunk recovered, while more than 176,000 assorted opioid pills were seized in Delta State.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended officers involved in the operations and directed personnel nationwide to sustain the momentum against drug trafficking. He warned that traffickers were becoming increasingly desperate and inventive in concealing illicit drugs, including using ordinary household items such as bathing soap. The agency also said its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign continued across schools, religious institutions, workplaces and communities during the week.
