N6.2bn Drug Haul: NDLEA Uncovers Captagon Hidden In Soap, Seizes Millions Of Opioid Tablets

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recorded a major breakthrough in its campaign against drug trafficking, intercepting captagon and millions of opioid tablets valued at more than N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The agency also arrested suspected drug traffickers and recovered cocaine, heroin and large quantities of cannabis during separate operations conducted across Lagos, Rivers, Ondo and Delta states.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said one of the major seizures followed the arrest of a 49-year-old man, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, after he arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana.

Aikins was arrested after arriving aboard an African World Airlines flight on Saturday, August 22, 2026.

According to the agency, a search of a carton containing locally made bathing soap, popularly known as Ghana Soap, allegedly uncovered 47,200 pills of captagon concealed inside blocks of soap.

The consignment was valued at more than N1.5 billion. Captagon is an amphetamine-type stimulant that has gained international notoriety because of reports linking its trafficking and use to armed groups and conflict zones.

The NDLEA said the suspect allegedly told investigators that the drugs were meant for delivery to a destination in northern Nigeria.

In another operation at the Lagos airport, operatives recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined weight of 2,787.40 kilogrammes.

The agency put the value of the opioid consignment at more than N4.6 billion.

According to the NDLEA, the drugs were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA after no individual came forward to claim them.

Three of the consignments reportedly contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.40kg and arrived aboard RwandAir flights from Bangladesh.

The fourth consignment contained more than three million tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972kg and was transported into Nigeria aboard a Qatar Airways flight from Amsterdam.

The agency said the consignments had been placed under surveillance before being formally retrieved on August 28 following a joint examination involving NDLEA officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders.

Elsewhere in Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, in the Ikate area of Lekki over the alleged attempted collection of 3.350kg of Loud, described as a potent synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.

In Rivers State, operatives raided the Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt, where they recovered a fireproof iron safe.

The safe was later opened with a welding machine, leading to the recovery of 237 grammes of Colorado, 316 grammes of cocaine and 10 grammes of heroin.

In Ondo State, three suspects were arrested along the Ipele-Idoani Road with 728kg of skunk allegedly being transported in a truck.

Two other suspects were also arrested at Aponmu Forest with 341kg of the same substance.

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NDLEA operatives in Delta State also intercepted more than 176,000 tablets of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, during separate operations conducted between August 26 and 28.

The agency added that its commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.

Reacting to the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the seizures and arrests.

He urged personnel to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control and intensify the crackdown on traffickers who continue to devise new methods of concealing and transporting illicit substances, including hiding drugs inside everyday household items.