NDLEA seizes N6.2bn captagon, opioids at Lagos airport, nabs suspect – The Witness Nigeria

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted consignments of captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug,” and millions of opioid tablets worth more than N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The agency disclosed this in a statement on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.

According to the statement, NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport on Saturday, August 22, arrested a 49-year-old suspected cross-border drug 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 known as “Ghana Soap,” led to the recovery of 47,200 pills of captagon concealed inside the blocks of soap.

The NDLEA said the seized drugs were worth more than N1.5 billion.

Captagon is an amphetamine-based drug that has been associated with extremist activities in conflict zones. The agency said it was first intercepted in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.

Following his arrest, Aikins allegedly told investigators that he was expected to deliver the consignment in northern Nigeria.

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 appeared to claim them.

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

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

The consignments had been placed under surveillance before they were formally retrieved during a joint examination involving NDLEA operatives, the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders on Friday, August 28.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives also arrested a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki, Lagos.

Oludotun was allegedly arrested while attempting to take delivery of 3.350kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.

In Rivers State, operatives raided the Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt and recovered a fireproof iron safe containing various illicit drugs.

The agency said the safe was opened with a welding machine on Tuesday, August 25, leading to the recovery of 237g of Colorado cannabis, 316g of cocaine and 10g of heroin.

In Ondo State, three suspects — Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36 — were arrested on Friday, August 28, along the Ipele-Idoani Road.

The suspects were allegedly found in possession of 728kg of skunk recovered from their truck marked KRE 120 XB.

Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested at Aponmu Forest on Wednesday, August 26, with another 341kg of skunk.

Similarly, in Delta State, NDLEA operatives recovered more than 176,000 pills of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, in two separate interdiction operations conducted between Wednesday, August 26, and Friday, August 28.

Commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta Commands, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel nationwide to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.

Marwa also directed operatives to maintain the momentum against drug traffickers, whom he said were becoming increasingly desperate and adopting new methods to move illicit consignments.

He specifically warned against attempts to conceal drugs in everyday household items.

“Drug traffickers are desperate to explore every means, including concealment in everyday household items like soap, to move their illicit consignments,” Marwa said.

He urged NDLEA personnel to remain vigilant and sustain efforts to curb drug trafficking across the country.