NDLEA intercepts N6.2bn ‘Jihadi drug’, opioids at Lagos airport

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted illicit drug consignments valued over N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, including Captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug,” and millions of opioid tablets.

The agency also arrested a suspected cross-border drug kingpin and made several other arrests and seizures in operations carried out across Lagos, Rivers, Ondo and Delta states.

At the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives arrested 49-year-old Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight on August 22, 2026.

Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday said a search of his carton of locally made bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana soap,” allegedly exposed 47,200 Captagon tablets concealed inside the soap blocks.

The consignment was valued by the agency at more than N1.5 billion.

Captagon, an amphetamine-based stimulant, has acquired the nickname “Jihadi drug” because of its reported use and links to financing in conflict zones. The NDLEA said it first intercepted the substance in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.

Following his arrest, Aikins reportedly told investigators that the consignment was intended for delivery in northern Nigeria.

In another major seizure at MMIA, the agency recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined weight of 2,787.40kg and estimated street value of more than N4.6 billion.

The drugs were found in four abandoned consignments at the airport’s import shed.

Three of the consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking, weighing 815.40kg, which arrived on RwandAir flights from Bangladesh.

The fourth shipment contained 3,000,030 Tapentadol tablets, weighing 1,972kg, and reportedly arrived aboard Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.