The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted consignments of Captagon and millions of opioid tablets worth more than N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
The agency also announced the arrest of a 49-year-old suspected cross-border drug kingpin and the seizure of cocaine, heroin, cannabis and other illicit substances in separate operations across Rivers, Ondo and Delta states.
The Captagon consignment was intercepted on 22 August following the arrest of Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, on an African World Airlines flight.
According to the NDLEA, officers searched a carton of local bathing soap, commonly known as “Ghana soap”, in the suspect’s possession and found 47,200 Captagon pills concealed inside blocks of soap.
The agency valued the consignment at more than N1.5 billion and said Mr Aikins told investigators that he had been instructed to deliver the drugs to northern Nigeria.
Captagon is an illicit amphetamine-type stimulant that has been linked to trafficking networks and extremist groups in conflict zones. The NDLEA said it first intercepted the drug in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
N4.6bn opioid consignment recovered
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA officers recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg with a combined weight of 2,787.40kg.
The agency estimated the street value of the drugs at more than N4.6 billion.
The tablets were found in four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA after no importer or consignee came forward to claim them.
Three consignments contained 900,000 Tramaking tablets weighing 815.40kg and had arrived on RwandAir flights from Bangladesh.
The fourth contained 3,000,030 Tapentadol tablets weighing 1,972kg and had arrived on a Qatar Airways flight from Amsterdam.
The NDLEA said the consignments had been placed under surveillance before officers formally retrieved them following a joint examination with the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders on 28 August.
Meanwhile, in Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 31-year-old US returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, in the Ikate area of Lekki on 19 August while he was allegedly attempting to receive 3.350kg of “Loud”, a potent strain of cannabis said to have been imported from the UK.
Cocaine, heroin seized in Rivers
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided a suspected drug hideout in the Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt.
The operation led to the recovery of a fireproof iron safe containing Colorado cannabis, cocaine and heroin.
The agency said the safe was opened with a welding machine on 25 August, resulting in the seizure of 237g of Colorado, 316g of cocaine and 10g of heroin.
In Ondo State, three suspects — Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36 — were arrested along the Ipele-Idoani Road on 28 August.
The NDLEA said they were found with 728kg of skunk concealed inside 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 a further 341kg of the same substance.
Delta records major opioid seizures
In Delta State, the agency said more than 176,000 tablets of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, were seized during two separate operations between 26 and 28 August.
The latest seizures come amid growing concerns over drug trafficking and substance abuse in the state.
The NDLEA said it had intercepted illicit drugs worth about N2 billion in Delta over the past year.
The agency’s State Commander, Halilu Hamidu, disclosed the figure in Ogwashi-Uku while receiving a management team from the Delta State Bureau for Orientation and Communications, led by its Director-General, Dr Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe.
Mr Hamidu said several drug-related cases were currently before the courts and expressed concern over the number of women being arrested in connection with drug trafficking in the state.
He called for stronger cooperation among government agencies, families, schools, civil society organisations, traditional institutions and community leaders to address drug trafficking and substance abuse.
