The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized over N6.2 billion worth of illicit drugs at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The haul includes millions of opioid pills and a large shipment of Captagon, an illicit amphetamine widely known as the “Jihadi drug.”

The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, announced the seizures in an official statement on Sunday.

The major arrest took place on Saturday, August 22. NDLEA officers intercepted a 49-year-old suspected drug trafficker, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, after he arrived from Accra, Ghana, on an African World Airlines flight.

During a routine search, officers inspected cartons of local bathing soap, commonly called “Ghana Soap.” Inside the blocks of soap, operatives discovered 47,200 pills of Captagon worth more than N1.5 billion.

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Captagon is often called the “Jihadi drug” because militant groups use it to fund armed conflicts and keep fighters alert. Following his arrest, Aikins told investigators that he was hired to deliver the shipment to a contact in northern Nigeria.

Billions in Abandoned Opioids

In another major operation at the airport, NDLEA officers recovered nearly four million opioid tablets from the cargo import shed.

The seized medication consisted of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing a combined 2,787 kilograms. The street value of the drugs exceeds N4.6 billion.

The drugs were shipped from Bangladesh and Amsterdam on different flights. Officers placed the four suspicious cargo packages under surveillance. When no one showed up to claim the shipments, NDLEA operatives and customs officials opened and confiscated them on Friday, August 28.

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The airport seizures were part of a wider nationwide crackdown against narcotics over the past week.

In Lekki, Lagos, officers arrested a 31-year-old United States returnee after he arrived to collect a delivery of foreign cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.

In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, operatives raided a local hideout and used a welding torch to cut open a fireproof safe. Inside, they found cocaine, heroin, and synthetic cannabis.

Similar raids across Ondo and Delta states resulted in several arrests and the seizure of over 1,000 kilograms of cannabis and more than 176,000 opioid pills.

NDLEA Chairman Mohamed Buba Marwa praised the officers for their vigilance. He warned that drug cartels are becoming more desperate by hiding dangerous narcotics inside everyday household items, urging officers across the country to stay alert.