NDLEA uncovers terrorists’ drugs captagon in Kwara

…Recovers 1.1m pills of opioids in Edo, 394 IED materials in Niger

…Suspect excretes 45 cocaine wraps

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on Sunday, said its operatives had intercepted Captagon, an addictive drug used by hardened terrorists in Kwara State

Captagon, is a tiny, highly addictive pill, widely available across the Middle East, which produces a euphoric intensity in users, allowing them to stay awake for days, making them fearless, and predisposes them to reckless action that puts the lives of people around them in jeopardy.

Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, in a statement on Sunday, states that this is coming about five years after the Agency recorded the first seizure of the deadly terror drug in Africa at the Apapa seaport in Lagos State.

According to him, “Its production and sale are controlled by militias and large criminal groups linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as a means of generating funds for weapons and combatants, and for use as a stimulant to keep them fighting.”

The NDLEA said the latest seizure of captagon, which street value costs as much as $25 a pill, was made on Tuesday 21st, April 2026 when its 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”, NDLEA said.

Buba Marwa, Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, commended the tactical precision of its operatives that resulted in the interception of 10,000 pills of Captagon in Kwara State.

He described the bust as “a major blow to drug syndicates attempting to revive a pipeline that has been largely dormant since the landmark seizure at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos five years ago”.

Marwa described the seizure as a wake-up call, noting that Captagon, a potent amphetamine often linked to insurgent groups for its ability to inhibit fear and fatigue, remains a target for traffickers looking to fuel insecurity.

“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

The anti-nacortic Agency said its operatives also uncovered tramadol capsules and injections, in another interdiction operation at the Bode Saadu patrol point, on Friday 24th April, when they intercepted a trailer marked RMY-70XA.

“A search of the truck led to the recovery of 155,900 capsules of tramadol; 6,000 ampuoles 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”, NDLEA explained.

The NDLEA operatives in Oyo State on Tuesday 21st April, 2026, intercepted a commercial bus with registration number MNA 963 ZY, at Akinyele along Ibadan/Oyo Expressway en route Sokoto. A 33-year-old passenger Eze Prince Emeka was brought down from the vehicle and taken for body scan, which result 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.

“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”, NDLEA noted.

In Edo state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Benin/Lagos expressway on Saturday 25th April, 2026 intercepted a truck marked NLC 146 FC conveying 1, 196,000 pills of pharmaceutical opioids, among others.

“Two suspects: Osagie Igbinibo, 43, and Omijie Malik, 44, were apprehended in connection with the seizure of the consignments heading to Onitsha, Anambra State.

A suspect Rasheed Ibuowo, 40, was arrested at Mile 2 Expressway in Lagos on Saturday 25th April, 2026, conveying 810 kilograms of Arizona, a strain of cannabis, another suspect Muktar Bello, 35, was nabbed by NDLEA operatives on Wednesday 22nd April at Misau road, Azare/Katagun LGA, Bauchi state with 288 blocks of skunk weighing 154.5kg.

Despite the efforts of the NDLEA, traffickers were also arrested in Ekiti State, with a total of 466.8 kilograms of skunk, recovered from the house of a suspect Layit John Matthew, 56, at Ilaro street, Isinbode-Ekiti, from where he planned to transport them to Yola, Adamawa State.

The NDLEA also revealed that about 20,000 kilograms of the same psychoactive substance were destroyed on eight hectares of farmland in Uyanga community, Akamkpa LGA, Cross River State on Saturday 25th April, 2026 when NDLEA officers supported by soldiers raided the Community and recovered 170kg of processed cannabis.

In another development, a total of three Hundred and Ninety-Four (394) pieces of IED components were seized from a suspect Mohammed Aliyu, 26, by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Kontagora/Zuru road, Niger state on Wednesday 22nd April.

He was conveying the IED materials in a red Toyota car with registration number KNT 617 AE to Shadadi, Mariga LGA. The suspect and exhibit are to be transferred to the relevant security Agency for further investigation.