Odita Sunday 
NDLEA Busts ‘Terror Drug’ Pipeline, Seizes 10,000 Captagon Pills In Kwara As Suspect Excretes Cocaine
By Odita Sunday
Nigeria’s anti-narcotics war recorded a major breakthrough as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted a fresh consignment of the notorious “terror drug” captagon in Kwara State, even as a suspected trafficker excreted 45 wraps of cocaine in a separate operation.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Mohamed Buba Marwa, declared that the stimulant linked globally to insurgent financing will “never find a foothold in Nigeria.”
The latest seizure comes nearly five years after the agency’s first interception of captagon in Africa at Apapa Port, underscoring renewed attempts by drug syndicates to penetrate the country.
NDLEA operatives on patrol along Bode Saadu Road in Kwara on April 21 intercepted a passenger vehicle, where a 33-year-old suspect, Nasiru Mu’azu, was found in possession of 10,000 pills of captagon alongside packets of Tapentadol. The highly addictive amphetamine popular in parts of the Middle East has been associated with armed groups due to its ability to induce prolonged wakefulness and reduce fear.
In a related operation at the same axis on April 24, officers uncovered a cache of illicit pharmaceuticals concealed in a truck’s false compartment. The haul included 155,900 capsules of tramadol, 6,000 ampoules of tramadol injection, 3,000 tablets of co-codamol, and 9,000 tablets of bromazepam. A 24-year-old suspect, Aminu Isah, was arrested.
Meanwhile, in Oyo State, NDLEA officers intercepted a commercial bus along the Ibadan-Oyo expressway, leading to the arrest of a 33-year-old businessman, Eze Prince Emeka. A body scan confirmed ingestion of illicit drugs, and under observation, he excreted 45 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.043kg. Investigations revealed he intended to traffic the drugs through trans-Saharan routes via Algeria to Europe.
The crackdown extended nationwide. In Edo State, operatives intercepted a truck carrying 1.196 million pills of opioids along the Benin-Lagos expressway, arresting two suspects. In Niger State, 394 components used for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were seized from a suspect en route to Mariga Local Government Area.
Further operations led to the arrest of suspects with large quantities of cannabis in Lagos and Bauchi, while in Ekiti State, 466.8kg of skunk was recovered from a residential building. In Cross River, NDLEA officers, supported by the military, destroyed 20,000kg of cannabis cultivated on eight hectares of farmland.
Beyond enforcement, the agency sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns across schools and communities nationwide, including outreach programmes in Kano, Katsina, Niger, and Lagos States.
Commending officers across affected commands, Marwa described the captagon seizure as a “wake-up call” and a strategic disruption of criminal networks attempting to fuel insecurity through narcotics.
“We are not just seizing pills; we are disrupting the fuel that powers violence in our communities,” he said, reaffirming the agency’s commitment to sustaining pressure on drug cartels across all fronts.
The NDLEA reiterated that its dual approach of aggressive enforcement and preventive education remains central to curbing drug abuse and trafficking across the country.
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