NDLEA seizes Captagon drug in Kwara, arrests businessman who excreted cocaine

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says its operatives have intercepted a consignment of the stimulant drug Captagon in Kwara State, alongside other seizures recorded in separate operations across the country.

This comes barely five years after the agency recorded the first seizure of Captagon in Africa at the Apapa Port in Lagos.

Captagon is a highly addictive amphetamine-type stimulant widely abused in parts of the Middle East.

According to the NDLEA, the drug produces intense euphoria, suppresses fatigue, and can keep users awake for days while reducing fear and increasing reckless behaviour.

The agency also linked its “production and sale to militias and large criminal groups linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria”, which it said use it as a “means of generating funds for weapons and combatants, and for use as a stimulant to keep them fighting.”

NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday.

He said, “The latest seizure of captagon, which street value costs as much as $25 a pill, was made on Tuesday 21st April 2026 when NDLEA operatives on patrol along Bode Saadu road, Kwara State, intercepted a trailer conveying passengers.

“A search conducted on one of the passengers, 33-year-old Nasiru Mu’azu, led to the recovery of 10 packs of captagon consisting of 10,000 pills and nine packets of Tapentadol 250mg.”

In a separate operation at the same Bode Saadu patrol point on Friday, 24 April, NDLEA officers intercepted a trailer marked RMY-70XA.

“A search of the truck led to the recovery of 155,900 capsules of Tramadol; 6,000 ampoules of Tramadol injection; 3,000 tablets of Co-Codamol; and 9,000 tablets of Bromazepam concealed in a false compartment constructed under the trailer.

“A 24-year-old suspect, Aminu Isah, has been taken into custody in connection with the seizure,” the statement added.

In Oyo State on 21 April, operatives intercepted a commercial bus with registration number MNA 963 ZY at Akinyele along the Ibadan–Oyo Expressway while en route to Sokoto.

“A 33-year-old passenger, Eze Prince Emeka, was brought down from the vehicle and taken for a body scan, which confirmed ingestion of illicit drug.

“The suspect, who claims to be a businessman in Sokoto, was subsequently placed under close excretion observation during which he excreted a total of forty-five (45) pellets of cocaine with a total weight of 1.043 kilograms in three excretions,” Babafemi said.

He added, “The decision to travel by road to Sokoto with the illicit drug in his stomach was to evade detection by NDLEA at the airport, while further investigation reveals that upon arrival in Sokoto, the suspect was to excrete the pellets, rest for a few days, and subsequently re-ingest the substances to continue the journey through the trans-Saharan routes, with Algeria as a transit point and possible final destination in Europe.”

In Edo State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Benin–Lagos Expressway on Saturday, 25 April, intercepted a truck marked NLC 146 FC conveying 1,196,000 pills of pharmaceutical opioids.

Two suspects, Osagie Igbinibo, 43, and Omijie Malik, 44, were arrested in connection with the seizure of the consignment, which was reportedly heading to Onitsha, Anambra State.

In Lagos, a suspect, Rasheed Ibuowo, 40, was arrested at Mile 2 Expressway on Saturday, 25 April, while conveying 810 kilograms of Arizona, a strain of cannabis.

In Bauchi State, another suspect, Muktar Bello, 35, was arrested on Wednesday, 22 April, along Misau Road, Azare/Katagum LGA, with 288 blocks of skunk weighing 154.5 kilograms.

NDLEA operatives in Ekiti State recovered 466.8 kilograms of skunk from the house of a suspect, Layit John Matthew, 56, at Ilaro Street, Isinbode-Ekiti. The agency said the drugs were intended for transportation to Yola, Adamawa State.

In Cross River State, about 20,000 kilograms of cannabis were destroyed on eight hectares of farmland in Uyanga community, Akamkpa LGA, on Saturday, 25 April. The operation, supported by soldiers, also led to the recovery of 170 kilograms of processed cannabis.

In Niger State, 394 pieces of improvised explosive device components were seized from a suspect, Mohammed Aliyu, 26, along the Kontagora–Zuru Road.

He was reportedly transporting the materials in a Toyota vehicle with registration number KNT 617 AE to Shadadi, Mariga LGA. The suspect and exhibits are to be transferred to the relevant security agency for further investigation.

The agency also said its commands across the country continued sensitisation activities under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the week.

These included enlightenment lectures at Mallam Salisu Islamic School, Paiko, Niger State; Madarasatul Abdulrahman Bin Auf Litahafizul Quran, Kano; Sani Zango Daura Model Primary School, Katsina; and a community engagement in Badagry, Lagos State.

The Zonal Commander, Zone 4 Command, ACGN Bridget Viashiama, also led a WADA advocacy visit to the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers of the Kwara, Oyo, Edo, Cross River, Bauchi, Ekiti, Niger and Lagos Commands for their operations and urged them to sustain the momentum in both enforcement and sensitisation activities.

He described the seizure of 10,000 Captagon pills in Kwara as a significant blow to drug syndicates attempting to revive a trafficking route that had been largely inactive since the Apapa Port seizure five years ago.

Marwa said the interception was a warning against attempts to expand Captagon trafficking networks, adding that the drug is often linked to insecurity due to its stimulant effects.

“We are not just seizing pills; we are disrupting the fuel that powers violence in our communities. Our operatives remain on high alert across all frontiers to ensure this illicit trade finds no foothold,” he said.