NDLEA intercepts ‘Jihadi drug’, N4.6bn opioids in Lagos

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a significant amount of illicit drugs at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The agency seized captagon, commonly known as the "Jihadi drug," and over N6.2 billion worth of opioid tablets. A 49-year-old cross-border drug kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, was arrested upon arrival from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.

Aikins was carrying 47,200 pills of illicit amphetamine drug concealed within soap blocks. The NDLEA previously intercepted captagon in September 2021 at the Apapa port in Lagos. Additionally, the agency recovered 3.9 million tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined weight of 2,787.40kg and an estimated street value of over N4.6 billion.

These drugs were found in abandoned consignments at the MMIA after no one showed up to claim them. The operation also led to the arrest of several suspects in Rivers, Ondo, and Delta States. NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) commended the officers and urged them to maintain vigilance against drug traffickers who are increasingly desperate and finding new methods to smuggle illicit substances.