The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a criminal network that sponsored Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Hajj with the aim of using them as cocaine couriers.
The agency arrested three suspected ringleaders—Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba—in Kano on 27 and 28 May, following the earlier arrest of two Saudi-bound pilgrims at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.
The pilgrims, Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado, were apprehended on 26 May during final screening before boarding Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 940 to Jeddah. Based on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives subjected them to body scans, which confirmed they had ingested illicit substances. Under observation, both excreted 45 wraps of cocaine each, totalling 90 pellets and weighing 1.04kg.
Investigations linked the suspects to a Kano-based trafficking syndicate specialising in smuggling drugs to Saudi Arabia during religious pilgrimages, prompting the swift arrest of the cartel leaders.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives at the same airport intercepted a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, on 28 May while attempting to board Qatar Airways flight QR1432 to Iran. A body scan revealed he had also ingested drugs. He later excreted 65 wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.41kg.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State, seized a massive consignment of opioids during joint inspections with Customs and other security agencies from 28 to 30 May. Seven containers yielded 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and Trodol, valued at ₦5.78 billion, and 5.1 million pills of opioids, mainly Tapentadol 225mg, worth ₦3.57 billion. The total street value of the intercepted drugs is estimated at ₦9.35 billion.
Elsewhere in Kano, NDLEA operatives patrolling the Kano–Maiduguri road on 30 May intercepted two men, Abubakar Hussein, 42, and Sahabi Adamu, 53, with $900,000 in suspected counterfeit currency. The suspects and the cash are to be handed over to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.
In Adamawa State, officers recovered 390 compressed blocks of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis weighing 275.3kg, from a parked Toyota Sienna vehicle along the Ngurore–Yola road on 27 May.
In Kwara State, a notorious female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, was arrested on 31 May in the Oja Oba area of Ilorin. NDLEA operatives recovered various quantities of tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine-based syrup from her residence.
The agency also continued its anti-drug advocacy under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, delivering sensitisation lectures at schools across Katsina, Enugu, Anambra, Kano, and Cross River States.
Commending the agency’s operatives for the string of arrests and seizures, NDLEA Chairman/CEO Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) praised their efforts in balancing drug supply reduction with public education and prevention initiatives.
