The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a drug trafficking syndicate that sponsored hajj pilgrims to serve as cocaine couriers to Saudi Arabia. The agency arrested three kingpins linked to the operation following the interception of two pilgrims at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.
The suspects, Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado, were apprehended on Monday, May 26, 2025, during the final screening of passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Jeddah. Based on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives subjected them to a body scan which confirmed ingestion of illicit substances. Placed under excretion observation, both suspects excreted 45 wraps of cocaine each, totaling 90 pellets and weighing 1.04kg.
A swift follow-up investigation led to the arrest of the cartel’s ringleaders — Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba — on Tuesday, May 27 and Wednesday, May 28, in Kano.
In a related operation at the same airport, NDLEA officers arrested a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, on Wednesday, May 28. The suspect, en route to Iran via Qatar Airways flight QR1432, was found to have ingested 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41kg.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State, intercepted a massive shipment of opioids hidden in seven containers between Wednesday, May 28 and Friday, May 30. The seizures included 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and trodol valued at ₦5.78 billion, along with 5.1 million pills of tapentadol 225mg valued at ₦3.57 billion. The total street value of the recovered drugs stood at a staggering ₦9.35 billion.
On the same Friday, May 30, along the Kano-Maiduguri road, operatives intercepted Abubakar Hussein, 42, and Sahabi Adamu, 53, in possession of $900,000 in suspected counterfeit cash. The suspects and the money are to be transferred to the appropriate agency for further investigation.
In another operation, 390 blocks of skunk cannabis weighing 275.3kg were discovered in a parked Toyota Sienna along the Ngurore-Yola road in Adamawa State on Tuesday, May 27.
Additionally, a notorious female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, was arrested on Saturday, May 31, in Ilorin, Kwara State. She was caught at Oja Oba with various quantities of opioids including tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine-based syrup.
As part of the NDLEA’s ongoing War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), sensitization lectures were conducted in secondary schools across Katsina, Enugu, Anambra, Kano, and Cross River states during the week.
Commending the efforts of NDLEA personnel in Kano, Rivers, Adamawa, and Kwara, the agency’s Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised their commitment to both drug supply reduction and demand reduction initiatives.