NDLEA seizes N6.2bn Jihadi drug and opioids at Lagos airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized 47,200 pills of Captagon, a synthetic drug known as the ‘Jihadi drug’, and over 3.9 million opioid tablets worth more than N6.2 billion at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, made this known in a statement on Sunday. The seizures happened during different operations at the airport.

Mr Babafemi explained that the Captagon was seized on 22 August when NDLEA officers arrested a 49-year-old suspected drug trafficker, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins. He arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, on an Africa World Airlines flight.

The NDLEA reported that Mr Aikins was caught after officers searched a carton of local bathing soap, known as “Ghana Soap”, that he brought into Nigeria. During the search, they found 47,200 Captagon pills hidden inside the blocks of soap. The agency valued this seizure at over N1.5 billion.

“After his arrest, Akinbile claimed he was meant to deliver the consignment in the North. Captagon is known as the ‘Jihadi drug’ because it is used to fund extremist activities in conflict zones,” the statement added.

This seizure is not the first. In September 2021, NDLEA operatives seized 451,807 tablets of Captagon weighing 74.119 kilogrammes at Apapa Port in Lagos. That consignment was hidden in imported machinery and valued at about N6 billion.

Captagon has links to illegal drug markets and armed groups in parts of the Middle East. At the Lagos airport, NDLEA also found 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing a total of 2,787.40 kilogrammes.

The agency noted that these drugs had a street value of over N4.6 billion. They were found in four abandoned consignments at the airport’s import shed.

Three of the consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.4kg. They arrived on RwandAir flights from Bangladesh. The fourth consignment had over 3 million (3,000,030) tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972kg and came on a Qatar Airways flight from Amsterdam.

These consignments were put under watch after no importer claimed them. They were retrieved and examined by NDLEA officers, Nigeria Customs Service, and other stakeholders on 28 August.

NDLEA has reported large opioid seizures at Nigeria's entry points recently. In May, the agency seized 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, worth about N2.19 billion, from a consignment that arrived at Lagos airport from India.

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives also arrested a 31-year-old man, Sowunmi David Oludotun, on 19 August at Ikate, Lekki. He was caught allegedly trying to take delivery of 3.350kg of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.

In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided a drug den in the Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt and found a fireproof iron safe. Officers used a welding machine to open it on 25 August and discovered 237 grammes of Colorado, 316 grammes of cocaine, and 10 grammes of heroin inside.

In Ondo State, three suspects, Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36, were arrested on 28 August along the Ipele-Idoani road. They were allegedly transporting 728kg of skunk in a truck with registration number KRE 120 XB.

Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested at Aponmu forest on 26 August with another 341kg of skunk. The agency also reported recovering over 176,000 pills of different opioids, including tramadol and Molly, in Delta State between 26 and 28 August.

While these operations continued, NDLEA commands across Nigeria also held drug-abuse awareness activities under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign. These included sensitisation programmes in schools, worship centres, and communities in Gombe, Kano, and Edo states.

The Ondo State Command visited Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the Taraba Command met with Governor Agbu Kefas. NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Buba Marwa, praised the officers involved in the operations. He encouraged them to keep up the pressure on traffickers who are finding new ways to hide illegal drugs, including in everyday household items.