The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency 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 also arrested a suspected cross-border drug kingpin and recovered cocaine, heroin, cannabis and other illicit substances in separate operations across the country.
In a statement on Sunday, the NDLEA said its operatives seized the Captagon shipment at the Lagos airport on Saturday, August 22, 2026, following the arrest of a 49-year-old man 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 discovery of 47,200 Captagon pills concealed inside blocks of soap. The agency valued the consignment at more than N1.5 billion.
Captagon is an amphetamine-based stimulant that has been dubbed the “Jihadi drug” because of reported links to extremist activities in conflict zones.
The NDLEA said it first intercepted the drug in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
The suspect allegedly told investigators that he was expected to deliver the consignment to a destination in northern Nigeria.
NDLEA Recovers N4.6bn Opioids
In another operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 2,787.40kg and valued at more than N4.6 billion.
The drugs were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA after no one came forward to claim them.
Three consignments containing 900,000 tablets of Tramaking, weighing 815.40kg, arrived aboard RwandAir flights from Bangladesh.
The fourth consignment contained 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol, weighing 1,972kg, and arrived on a Qatar Airways flight from Amsterdam.
The NDLEA said the consignments were placed under surveillance before being formally retrieved following a joint examination by its officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders on Friday.
Meanwhile, a 31-year-old United States returnee was arrested on August 19 in the Ikate area of Lekki, Lagos, after allegedly showing up to collect 3.350kg of “Loud”, a potent strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
Cocaine, Heroin, Cannabis Recovered
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt, where they recovered a fireproof iron safe containing illicit drugs.
The agency said the safe was cracked open with a welding machine on Tuesday, 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 on Friday with 728kg of skunk concealed in their truck.
Two other suspects were also arrested at Aponmu Forest on Wednesday with 341kg of the same substance.
In Delta State, the NDLEA said more than 176,000 tablets of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, were recovered during two separate interdiction operations conducted between August 26 and 28.
The agency said it had also continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities across the country.
The NDLEA maintained that the latest seizures and arrests formed part of its ongoing efforts to disrupt the trafficking and distribution of illicit drugs and prevent dangerous substances from reaching communities.