…Intercepts 47,200 Captagon pills, 3.9m opioid tablets at Lagos airport
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted illicit drugs worth more than N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, including consignments of Captagon pills concealed inside blocks of locally made bathing soap popularly known as “Ghana Soap.”
The agency also arrested a 49-year-old alleged cross-border drug kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived in Nigeria from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the arrests and seizures in a statement issued yesterday.
According to him, a search of Aikins’ carton of bathing soap led to the recovery of 47,200 pills of Captagon, an illicit amphetamine drug, with an estimated value of more than N1.5 billion.
The suspect was arrested on Saturday, August 22, following his arrival at the Lagos airport.
The NDLEA said Aikins claimed during interrogation that he was expected to deliver the consignment to a location in the northern part of the country.
Captagon has been widely associated with illicit use in conflict zones and is sometimes referred to as the “Jihadi drug”. The NDLEA said it first intercepted the substance in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port, Lagos.
3.9m opioid tablets intercepted
In a separate operation at the MMIA, operatives recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing a combined 2,787.40kg and estimated to be worth more than N4.6 billion.
The agency said the drugs were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the airport’s import shed after no individual came forward to claim them.
Three of the consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking, weighing 815.40kg, which arrived aboard RwandAir flights from Bangladesh.
The fourth consignment contained 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol, weighing 1,972kg, and was brought in on a Qatar Airways flight from Amsterdam.
The consignments had reportedly been placed under surveillance before NDLEA operatives, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders, conducted a joint examination and formally retrieved them on Friday, August 28.
US returnee arrested
Meanwhile, a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, was arrested on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki, Lagos, while allegedly attempting to take delivery of 3.350kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis said to have been imported from the United Kingdom.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided the Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt and recovered an iron safe containing different illicit substances.
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.
1,069kg cannabis seized in Ondo
In Ondo State, three suspects — Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36 — were arrested along the Ipele-Idoani Road on Friday, August 28.
The suspects were allegedly conveying 728kg of skunk in a 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.
In Delta State, the agency also recovered more than 176,000 tablets of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, during two interdiction operations carried out between August 26 and 28.
Commending personnel of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta commands for the seizures, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged officers across the country to sustain the agency’s approach to combating drug trafficking.
Marwa said drug traffickers were becoming increasingly desperate and adopting different methods to conceal and transport illicit substances.
He specifically warned against attempts to hide drugs in ordinary 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 directed NDLEA personnel to remain vigilant and sustain the fight against drug trafficking across the country.
