Ebenezer Adurokiya, Reporting
IN a week of intensive operations, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dealt a significant blow to drug trafficking networks, intercepting a staggering N6.2 billion worth of illicit substances, including the notorious ‘Jihadi drug’ concealed in bars of soap at Lagos’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) .
‘Jihadi Drug’ Hidden in Soap
In a meticulously executed operation on Saturday, 22nd August, NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport apprehended a 49-year-old cross-border drug kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who had just arrived from Accra, Ghana, on an African World Airlines flight .
A search of Aikins’s luggage revealed a sophisticated concealment method. Hidden within cartons of locally made “Ghana Soap,” officers discovered a staggering 47,200 pills of Captagon, an illicit amphetamine notoriously dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ . The street value of this single haul is estimated at over N1.5 billion . Following his arrest, Aikins reportedly claimed he was to deliver the consignment to an undisclosed location in Northern Nigeria .
Airport Import Shed Opioid Bust
The interception operation at the Lagos airport was not an isolated incident. In a separate but related interdiction, NDLEA officers, in a joint examination with Customs officials and other stakeholders on Friday, 28th August, recovered four abandoned consignments from the airport’s import shed .
The combined haul yielded 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined weight of 2,787.40 kilograms and an estimated street value of more than N4.6 billion . The consignments, which had been under surveillance after nobody came forward to claim them, arrived from Bangladesh via RwandAir and from Amsterdam via Qatar Airways .
Fireproof Safe Cracked in Port Harcourt Raid
The NDLEA’s operations extended beyond the airport, with a dramatic raid in the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State . Officers discovered a fireproof iron safe being used by drug dealers to protect high-value contraband from theft and fire . Using a welding machine on Tuesday, 25th August, agents cracked the safe open, uncovering 237 grams of Colorado, 316 grams of cocaine, and 10 grams of heroin .
Nationwide Crackdown Continues
The agency’s offensive against narcotics and psychotropic substances continued across the country. In Ondo State, three suspects were arrested on Friday, 28th August, with a truck carrying 728 kilograms of skunk . Meanwhile, in Delta State, over 176,000 pills of assorted opioids, including tramadol and molly, were recovered in separate operations between Wednesday, 26th, and Friday, 28th August .
‘War Against Drug Abuse’ Continues
Praising the officers for their successes, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), urged them to maintain momentum against traffickers who are increasingly using everyday household items like soap for concealment . He also noted that commands across the country have continued sensitisation lectures as part of the Agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), visiting schools, worship centres, and workplaces to educate the public on the dangers of illicit substances.
