NDLEA Seizes N6.2bn Opioids Tablets, Jihadi Drug in Lagos

By Omolola Makanjuola

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has halted the shipments of Captagon, popularly known as the Jihadi drug, and millions of opioid tablets worth over N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

In a statement signed by its Director for Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA said its operatives at the Lagos airport on Saturday, August 22, 2026, arrested a 49-year-old cross-border drug kingpin, Mr Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.

“NDLEA intercepted consignments of Captagon, widely known as the Jihadi drug, and millions of opioid pills worth over N6.2 billion at the MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos.

“The Captagon shipment was seized at the Lagos airport on Saturday, August 22, 2026, following the arrest of a 49-year-old cross-border kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.

“A search of his carton of local bathing soap, popularly called Ghana Soap, led to the recovery of 47,200 pills of the illicit amphetamine drug worth over N1.5bn concealed within blocks of soap.

“Captagon, which is notoriously dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ for its use in funding extremist activities in conflict zones, was first intercepted in Nigeria by the NDLEA in September 2021 at the Apapa port in Lagos. After his arrest, Akinbile claimed he was meant to deliver the consignment in the North.”

In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 2,787.40kg and an estimated 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 showed up to claim them.

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

The fourth load contained 3,000,030 tablets of tapentadol, weighing 1,972kg, and arrived aboard Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.

The load, which had been placed under surveillance, were formally retrieved following a joint examination by NDLEA operatives, the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders on Friday, August 28.

Also, a 31-year-old United States returnee, Mr Sowunmi David Oludotun, was arrested on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki, Lagos, after he allegedly showed up to take delivery of 3.350kg 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 and recovered a fireproof iron safe containing different illicit drugs.