The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 47,200 pills of Captagon, a synthetic amphetamine popularly dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’, and more than 3.9 million opioid tablets worth over N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
According to NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, the seizures were made in separate operations at the airport.
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Mr Babafemi explained that the Captagon was seized on 22 August after NDLEA operatives arrested a 49-year-old suspected cross-border drug trafficker, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an Africa World Airlines flight.
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The NDLEA noted that Mr Aikins’ arrest came after officers searched and found a carton of local bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana Soap”, that he brought into the country.
In the statement, the narcotics agency stated that the search uncovered 47,200 Captagon pills concealed inside the blocks of soap. The agency put the value of the consignment at more than N1.5 billion.
“After his arrest, Akinbile claimed he was meant to deliver the consignment in the North.
“Captagon, which is notoriously dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ for its use in funding extremist activities in conflict zones,” the statement added.
The seizure is the latest in a series of Captagon interceptions by the agency. In September 2021, NDLEA operatives seized 451,807 tablets of the drug weighing 74.119 kilogrammes at the Apapa Port in Lagos. The consignment, concealed in imported machinery, was valued by the agency at about N6 billion.
Captagon has been associated with illicit drug markets and armed groups in parts of the Middle East.
At the Lagos airport, the NDLEA also recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined weight of 2,787.40 kilogrammes.
The agency noted that the drugs had a street value of more than N4.6 billion and were recovered from 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 contained over 3 million (3,000,030) tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972kg and arrived on a Qatar Airways flight from Amsterdam.
The consignments were placed under surveillance after no importer came forward to claim them. They were later retrieved and examined jointly by NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders on 28 August.
Large opioid consignments have also featured in recent NDLEA operations at Nigeria’s entry points. In May, the agency reported the seizure of 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, valued at about N2.19 billion, from a consignment that arrived at the Lagos airport from India.
Also in Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, on 19 August at Ikate, Lekki.
Mr Oludotun was arrested when he allegedly arrived to take delivery of 3.350kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
Cocaine, heroin found in safe
Separately, in Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided a drug den in the Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt and recovered a fireproof iron safe.
The agency said officers used a welding machine to open the safe on 25 August, after which they found 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.
The suspects were allegedly conveying 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 the recovery of more than 176,000 pills of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, in two operations conducted in Delta State between 26 and 28 August.
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While the enforcement operations continued, NDLEA commands across the country also carried out drug-abuse awareness activities under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign.
The activities included sensitisation programmes in schools, worship centres and communities in Gombe, Kano and Edo states.
The Ondo State Command also paid an advocacy visit to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the Taraba Command visited Governor Agbu Kefas.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s enforcement and prevention efforts.
Mr Marwa, a retired brigadier general, said officers must maintain pressure on traffickers who were increasingly finding new ways to conceal illicit drugs, including hiding them in ordinary household items.
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