By Ajibola Olaide, JKNewsMedia Reporter
CONSIGNMENTS OF captagon, widely known as the ‘Jihadi drug’, and millions of opioid pills worth more than N6.2 billion have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
JKNewsMedia.com reports that the captagon consignment was seized on Saturday, August 22, following the arrest of 49-year-old cross-border drug kingpin Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.
A search of his carton of local bathing soap, popularly known as “Ghana Soap”, led to the recovery of 47,200 pills of the illicit amphetamine drug concealed inside blocks of soap. The consignment was valued at more than N1.5 billion.
After his arrest, Aikins claimed he was expected to deliver the consignment in the North.
Captagon was first intercepted in Nigeria by the NDLEA in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos. The drug has been dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ because of its use in funding extremist activities in conflict zones.
In another operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 2,787.40kg and a street value of more than N4.6 billion.
The opioids were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the airport after no one showed up to claim them.
Three of the consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.40kg and arrived aboard RwandAir flights from Bangladesh.
The fourth consignment contained 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972kg and arrived on Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.
The shipments had been placed under close watch before NDLEA officers, Customs officials and other stakeholders formally retrieved and examined them on Friday, August 28.
The agency also arrested a 31-year-old US returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki, after he showed up to take delivery of 3.350kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt and recovered a fireproof iron safe among other items. The officers cracked open the safe with a welding machine on Tuesday, August 25, recovering 237g of Colorado, 316g of cocaine and 10g of heroin.
Three suspects, Oyedele Daniel, 42, Taye Saliu, 36, and Kehinde Saliu, 36, were arrested on Friday, August 28, along the Ipele Idoani Road in Ondo State with 728kg of skunk recovered from their truck marked KRE 120 XB.
Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested at Aponmu Forest on Wednesday, August 26, with 341kg of the same substance.
JKNewsMedia.com also reports that in Delta State, the agency recovered more than 176,000 pills of assorted opioids, including tramadol, molly and others, in two interdiction operations carried out between Wednesday, August 26, and Friday, August 28.
Beyond the arrests and seizures, NDLEA commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the past week.
The activities included enlightenment lectures for students and staff of Markaz Littahfizul Quran Wal Islamiyyat in Dadin Kowa, Gombe State, and Zangina Islamiyyah Alasawa Kurna in Ungogo Local Government Area of Kano State.
The agency also sensitised youths participating in the adolescent lifestyle programme organised by NNPCL in Benin City, Edo State.
The Ondo State Command paid a War Against Drug Abuse advocacy visit to the state governor, Dr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the Taraba State Command carried out a similar visit to the state governor, Dr Agbu Kefas.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers and men of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta commands for the successful operations.
Marwa urged them and their colleagues across the country to maintain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control efforts.
He also directed the officers to sustain the momentum against drug traffickers who are exploring different means to move illicit consignments, including concealing drugs in everyday household items such as soap.
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