The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted consignments of Captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug,” and millions of opioid tablets worth more than N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The agency also arrested a suspected cross-border drug kingpin and recovered cocaine, heroin, cannabis and other illicit substances in separate operations across the country.
According to the NDLEA, its operatives on August 22 arrested a 49-year-old man who arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.
A search of his carton of local bathing soap, popularly called “Ghana Soap”, led to the discovery of 47,200 Captagon pills concealed inside blocks of soap. The consignment was valued at more than N1.5 billion.
The suspect reportedly told investigators that he was expected to deliver the drugs to northern Nigeria.
Captagon is an amphetamine-based stimulant that has been associated with extremist activities in conflict zones. The NDLEA said it first intercepted the drug in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, the agency recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 2,787.40kg and valued at more than N4.6 billion.
The drugs were found in four abandoned consignments at the MMIA import shed after no one came forward to claim them.
Three consignments containing 900,000 Tramaking tablets arrived on RwandAir flights from Bangladesh, while the fourth contained 3,000,030 Tapentadol tablets and arrived on Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.
The consignments were placed under surveillance before being retrieved following a joint examination involving NDLEA officials, the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders.
Meanwhile, a 31-year-old United States returnee was arrested on August 19 in the Ikate area of Lekki, Lagos, while allegedly attempting to collect 3.350kg of “Loud”, a potent strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided the Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt and recovered a fireproof safe containing 237 grammes of Colorado cannabis, 316 grammes of cocaine and 10 grammes of heroin.
In Ondo State, three suspects were arrested along the Ipele-Idoani Road with 728kg of skunk concealed in their truck, while two others were arrested at Aponmu Forest with another 341kg of the substance.
The agency also reported the recovery of more than 176,000 tablets of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, during separate operations in Delta State between August 26 and 28.
The NDLEA said it would continue its enforcement operations alongside its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities across the country.