Captagon drugs valued at N5.8 billion, and rotor coils concealing the drugs seized by the NDLEA at Apapa Port in Lagos

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested one suspect and made a seizure of illicit narcotics worth N6b concealed in a machine from Lebanon at Apapa port, Lagos.

The agency while displaying the exhibit at a press briefing in Raddison Hotel, Ikeja on Wednesday said the seizure, an operation led by Apapa Port Area Commander, Samuel Gadzama, was a large quantity of Captagon, a brand of Amphetamine used by Islamic State’s West African Province (ISWAP), ISIS and Boko Haram insurgents as stimulants.

According to the Chairman, Chief Executive of the NDLEA, rtd. Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa, the seizure was to update Nigerians on the evil intent of importation of illicit substances into the country at a very critical time when the nation is faced with security challenges.

He said: ” a total of 451, 807 tablets weighing 74.119 kilograms were discovered hidden inside rotors. Going by the street value of about $25 per tablet, the importer would have raised N5.8 billion.”

He added that it is the first of its kind that Captagon will be brought into any African country South of the Sahara, stating that the addictive pill is widely available across the Middle East and produces a euphoric intensity in users, allowing them to stay awake for days, making them fearless and predisposes them to reckless action that puts lives of people in jeopardy.

“What should give any discerning Nigerian nightmare concerning this drug is that its production and sale is controlled by militias and large criminal groups in the Middle East. Captagon has been traced to Syria and Lebanon,” he said.

Marwa also alleged that ISIS is using the production of Captagon to generate funds for weapons and combatants, stimulating them during war.

It was revealed that the agency had received an intel in March from its international partners on the shipment of illicit narcotics to Nigeria from the Middle East through the hr Apapa port before NDLEA sniffer dogs were used to confirmed on September 1, that 18, 560 tablets of drug suspected to be Amphetamine ( Captagon) weighing 3.2kg was found deeply concealed in one of the coils.

Assuring Nigerians of zero tolerance for production, trafficking and abuse of illicit substance, Marwa said the agency would not rest on its oars until every person connected to the shipment is arrested.