The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 47,200 Captagon pills and more than 3.9 million opioid tablets valued at over ₦6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the seizures were made during separate operations at the airport.
According to Babafemi, NDLEA operatives seized the Captagon on August 22 after arresting a 49-year old suspected cross-border drug trafficker, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an Africa World Airlines flight.
A search of a carton of local bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana Soap”, found in his possession led to the discovery of 47,200 Captagon pills concealed inside the soap blocks. The agency valued the consignment at more than ₦1.5 billion.
“After his arrest, Akinbile claimed he was meant to deliver the consignment in the North.
“Captagon, which is notoriously dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ for its use in funding extremist activities in conflict zones,” the statement added.
The latest seizure adds to previous interceptions of Captagon by the NDLEA. In September 2021, the agency seized 451,807 tablets of the drug weighing 74.119 kilogrammes at Apapa Port, Lagos. The consignment, concealed in imported machinery, was valued at about ₦6 billion.
At the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives also recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing a combined 2,787.40 kilogrammes.
The agency said the opioid consignments had a street value of more than ₦4.6 billion and were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the airport’s import shed.
Three consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.4kg and arrived on RwandAir flights from Bangladesh. The fourth contained 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972kg and arrived on a Qatar Airways flight from Amsterdam.
The consignments were placed under surveillance after no importer came forward to claim them. NDLEA officers, alongside officials of the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders, subsequently retrieved and examined the consignments on August 28.
The agency said similar large opioid seizures had been recorded at Nigeria’s entry points. In May, it reported the seizure of 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, valued at about ₦2.19 billion, from a consignment that arrived at the Lagos airport from India.
In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki.
Oludotun was arrested while allegedly taking delivery of 3.350kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives also raided a drug den in the Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt, where they recovered a fireproof iron safe. Officers reportedly used a welding machine to open the safe on August 25, discovering 237 grammes of Colorado, 316 grammes of cocaine and 10 grammes of heroin inside.
In Ondo State, three suspects, Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36, were arrested on August 28 along the Ipele-Idoani road while allegedly conveying 728kg of skunk in a truck with registration number KRE 120 XB.
Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested at Aponmu forest on August 26 with another 341kg of skunk.
The agency also reported the recovery of more than 176,000 assorted opioid pills, including tramadol and Molly, during two operations in Delta State between August 26 and 28.
Alongside its enforcement activities, NDLEA commands across the country continued drug abuse awareness programmes under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign.
The activities included sensitisation programmes in schools, worship centres and communities in Gombe, Kano and Edo states. The Ondo State Command also paid an advocacy visit to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the Taraba Command visited Governor Agbu Kefas.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Buba Marwa, commended the officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s enforcement and prevention efforts.
Marwa, a retired brigadier general, said officers must continue to put pressure on traffickers who were developing new methods of concealing illicit drugs, includNDLEA Seizes 47,200 Captagon Pills, 3.9m Opioids Worth Over ₦6.2bn In Lagos
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 47,200 Captagon pills and more than 3.9 million opioid tablets valued at over ₦6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the seizures were made during separate operations at the airport.
According to Babafemi, NDLEA operatives seized the Captagon on August 22 after arresting a 49-year old suspected cross-border drug trafficker, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an Africa World Airlines flight.
A search of a carton of local bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana Soap”, found in his possession led to the discovery of 47,200 Captagon pills concealed inside the soap blocks. The agency valued the consignment at more than ₦1.5 billion.
“After his arrest, Akinbile claimed he was meant to deliver the consignment in the North.
“Captagon, which is notoriously dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ for its use in funding extremist activities in conflict zones,” the statement added.
The latest seizure adds to previous interceptions of Captagon by the NDLEA. In September 2021, the agency seized 451,807 tablets of the drug weighing 74.119 kilogrammes at Apapa Port, Lagos. The consignment, concealed in imported machinery, was valued at about ₦6 billion.
At the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives also recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing a combined 2,787.40 kilogrammes.
The agency said the opioid consignments had a street value of more than ₦4.6 billion and were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the airport’s import shed.
Three consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.4kg and arrived on RwandAir flights from Bangladesh. The fourth contained 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972kg and arrived on a Qatar Airways flight from Amsterdam.
The consignments were placed under surveillance after no importer came forward to claim them. NDLEA officers, alongside officials of the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders, subsequently retrieved and examined the consignments on August 28.
The agency said similar large opioid seizures had been recorded at Nigeria’s entry points. In May, it reported the seizure of 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, valued at about ₦2.19 billion, from a consignment that arrived at the Lagos airport from India.
In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki.
Oludotun was arrested while allegedly taking delivery of 3.350kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives also raided a drug den in the Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt, where they recovered a fireproof iron safe. Officers reportedly used a welding machine to open the safe on August 25, discovering 237 grammes of Colorado, 316 grammes of cocaine and 10 grammes of heroin inside.
In Ondo State, three suspects, Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36, were arrested on August 28 along the Ipele-Idoani road while allegedly conveying 728kg of skunk in a truck with registration number KRE 120 XB.
Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested at Aponmu forest on August 26 with another 341kg of skunk.
The agency also reported the recovery of more than 176,000 assorted opioid pills, including tramadol and Molly, during two operations in Delta State between August 26 and 28.
Alongside its enforcement activities, NDLEA commands across the country continued drug abuse awareness programmes under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign.
The activities included sensitisation programmes in schools, worship centres and communities in Gombe, Kano and Edo states. The Ondo State Command also paid an advocacy visit to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the Taraba Command visited Governor Agbu Kefas.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Buba Marwa, commended the officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s enforcement and prevention efforts.
Marwa, a retired brigadier general, said officers must continue to put pressure on traffickers who were developing new methods of concealing illicit drugs, including hiding them in ordinary household items.ing hiding them in ordinary household items.
