NDLEA intercepts N6.2bn drugs hidden in Ghana soap, opioids at Lagos airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a significant amount of illegal drugs at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. Among the drugs seized were captagon, also known as the "Jihadi drug," and millions of opioid tablets, valued at over N6.2 billion. The interception occurred on Saturday, August 22, 2026, when NDLEA operatives arrested a 49-year-old cross-border drug kingpin named Akinbile Kazeem Aikins in Accra, Ghana.

Aikins was found to be carrying 47,200 pills of the illicit amphetamine drug hidden within blocks of local bathing soap, also known as "Ghana Soap." The NDLEA had previously intercepted captagon in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa port in Lagos. On a separate operation, the agency recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing a total of 2,787.40kg and estimated to have a street value of over N4.6 billion.

These drugs were found in four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA, after no one claimed them. Three other arrests were made in connection with the seizure of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom, and large quantities of skunk, allegedly concealed in a truck. The NDLEA Chairman, Brig.

Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Ondo, and Delta Commands for their operations and urged personnel across the country to maintain the agency's balanced approach to drug control.