The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted illicit drugs valued at more than N6.2 billion in separate operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, including 47,200 Captagon pills concealed in bathing soap.
The agency also arrested a suspected cross-border drug kingpin and recovered cocaine, heroin, cannabis and other prohibited substances in operations conducted in Lagos and Ondo states.
According to a statement issued by the NDLEA on Sunday, the Captagon seizure was made on Saturday, August 22, 2026, following the arrest of a 49-year-old passenger who arrived in Lagos from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.
Operatives reportedly became suspicious of a carton of locally produced bathing soap, popularly called “Ghana Soap”, belonging to the suspect.
A search of the carton allegedly revealed 47,200 Captagon tablets hidden inside blocks of the soap.
The NDLEA put the estimated value of the consignment at more than N1.5 billion.
Captagon is an amphetamine-based stimulant that has acquired the nickname “Jihadi drug” because of reported associations with extremist groups and conflict zones.
The agency said Nigeria recorded its first interception of Captagon in September 2021, when the drug was seized at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
The suspect allegedly told investigators that the shipment was destined for northern Nigeria.
In a separate operation at the same airport, NDLEA officers recovered more than 3.9 million opioid tablets with a combined weight of 2,787.40kg and an estimated street value of over N4.6 billion.
The drugs were discovered in four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA after no importer or recipient came forward to claim them.
Three of the consignments contained a combined 900,000 tablets of Tramaking 225mg, weighing 815.40kg.
The consignments reportedly arrived in Nigeria on RwandAir flights from Bangladesh.
The fourth shipment contained 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 1,972kg, and was brought into the country on a Qatar Airways flight from Amsterdam.
The NDLEA said the consignments were placed under surveillance before they were eventually retrieved and examined jointly by its officers, the Nigeria Customs Service and other relevant stakeholders on Friday.
Beyond the airport seizures, the agency reported additional arrests and drug recoveries in Lagos and Ondo states.
In Lagos, a 31-year-old United States returnee was arrested on August 19 in the Ikate area of Lekki.
According to the NDLEA, the suspect allegedly arrived to collect 3.350kg of “Loud”, a potent strain of cannabis said to have been imported from the United Kingdom.
In Ondo State, NDLEA operatives intercepted a truck along the Ipele-Idoani Road on Friday and arrested three suspects after allegedly discovering 728kg of skunk concealed inside the vehicle.
Two other suspects were arrested at Aponmu Forest on Wednesday, where operatives reportedly recovered an additional 341kg of skunk.
The agency said its enforcement activities were being complemented by its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns.
According to the NDLEA, the campaigns continued in schools, places of worship, workplaces and communities across the country as part of efforts to discourage drug abuse and strengthen public awareness of the dangers associated with illicit substances.
