NDLEA Seizes N6.2bn Captagon, Opioids at Lagos Airport

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted a significant shipment of captagon, an illicit amphetamine-based drug often associated with extremist networks, alongside millions of opioid tablets with a combined street value exceeding N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The agency announced the seizures on August 30, 2026, detailing a series of operations conducted in the preceding week.

The captagon consignment, consisting of 47,200 pills with an estimated street value of more than N1.5 billion, was seized on August 22. NDLEA operatives arrested 49-year-old Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, described as a cross-border drug kingpin, shortly after he arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, on an African World Airlines flight. A search of his carton revealed the captagon pills concealed inside blocks of local bathing soap, popularly known as Ghana Soap. Following his arrest, Aikins reportedly stated he was expected to deliver the consignment in northern Nigeria. The NDLEA noted that captagon has been linked to conflict zones and was first intercepted in Nigeria in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.

In a separate operation at the airport's...