The operation took a dramatic turn with the arrest of 49-year-old cross-border kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra, Ghana, with the Captagon consignment concealed inside blocks of locally made bathing soap.
A search of his carton of “Ghana Soap” led to the recovery of the 47,200 Captagon pills worth over ₦1.5 billion, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement emailed to PersecondNews on Sunday.
Aikins was arrested on Saturday, August 22, 2026, after arriving aboard an African World Airlines flight from Accra, Ghana, with the carton of bathing soap containing the illicit amphetamine drug.
During interrogation, Aikins claimed he was meant to deliver the consignment in the North, while Captagon, notoriously dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ for its use in funding extremist activities in conflict zones, was first intercepted in Nigeria by NDLEA in September 2021 at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
No fewer than 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 2,787.40 kilograms and more than ₦4.6 billion in street value, were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the Murtala Mohammed (MMIA), International Airport, Lagos, in another operation.
Three of the consignments, comprising 900,000 tablets of Tramaking weighing 815.40 kilograms, arrived aboard RwandAir flights from Bangladesh, while the fourth, comprising 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972 kilograms, arrived on Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.
The shipments, which had been placed under close watch after no one showed up to claim them, were formally retrieved after a joint examination by NDLEA officers, Customs and other stakeholders on Friday, August 28.
Also in Lagos, a 31-year-old US-returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, was on August 19 arrested by NDLEA operatives at Ikate area of Lekki after he showed up to take delivery of 3.350 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
The crackdown also extended to Rivers State, where NDLEA operatives raided the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt, and recovered a fireproof iron safe among other items.
When the safe was cracked open with a welding machine on Tuesday, August 25, 237 grams of Colorado, 316 grams of cocaine and 10 grams of heroin were recovered from it.
According to the Agency, the drug trail continued in Ondo State, where NDLEA operatives intercepted a truck marked KRE 120 XB along the Ipele-Idoani road on August 28, leading to the arrest of Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36, with 728 kilograms of skunk recovered.
Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested at Aponmu forest with 341 kilograms of the same substance on Wednesday, August 26.
Delta also recorded major seizures during the week, with NDLEA operatives recovering more than 176,000 pills of assorted opioids, including tramadol and molly, in two separate operations conducted between August 26 and 28.
Delta also recorded major seizures during the week, with NDLEA operatives recovering more than 176,000 pills of assorted opioids, including tramadol and molly, in two separate operations conducted between August 26 and 28.
The agency’s prevention efforts also continued alongside the seizures, with its commands taking anti-drug awareness campaigns to schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities across the country during the week.
The activities included WADA enlightenment lectures for students and staff of Markaz Littahfizul Quran Wal Islamiyyat, Dadin Kowa, Gombe; Zangina Islamiyyah Alasawa Kurna, Ungogo LGA, Kano; and youths at the adolescent lifestyle programme organised by NNPCL in Benin City, Edo State.
The Ondo State Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the Taraba State Command paid a similar advocacy visit to Governor Agbu Kefas.
Following the successful operations, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, retired Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, urged personnel involved to maintain the tempo and ensure that the Agency’s balanced approach to drug control remains firmly in place.
He further urged the operatives to stay ahead of traffickers who continue to devise new ways of concealing their consignments, including the use of ordinary household items such as bathing soap.