The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has uncovered and dismantled a criminal syndicate that recruited Nigerian Muslim pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia for Hajj as drug couriers.
The major bust was confirmed by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi in a statement released on Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Abuja.
According to the statement, the operation was triggered by the arrest of two suspected couriers, Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on Monday, May 26, 2025. The duo, who were preparing to board Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940 to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, were intercepted during NDLEA’s final screening process based on credible intelligence.
Body scans revealed they had ingested illicit substances. Further observation confirmed each suspect excreted 45 pellets of cocaine, totaling 90 pellets and weighing approximately 1.04 kilograms.
Following swift investigations, NDLEA operatives arrested three alleged kingpins of the network: Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba.
These arrests, which occurred on Tuesday, May 27 and Wednesday, May 28 in Kano, exposed the operational core of the trafficking ring believed to have specialized in smuggling drugs to the Middle East during religious pilgrimages.
In a related incident, NDLEA operatives at the same Kano airport also apprehended 60-year-old businessman Chinedu Leonard Okigbo on May 28.
He was intercepted while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight (QR1432) to Iran. A body scan confirmed he had also ingested cocaine. Okigbo eventually excreted 65 wraps of the drug weighing 1.41 kilograms.
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NDLEA also carried out another large-scale operation at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State. In a joint inspection conducted between May 28 and May 30 alongside customs and other security agencies, officers examined seven watch-listed containers.
The operation led to the seizure of 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and trodol, with an estimated street value of ₦5.77 billion. Additionally, 5.1 million pills of tapentadol 225mg—worth ₦3.57 billion—were recovered, bringing the total value of the seizure to approximately ₦9.35 billion.
Elsewhere, NDLEA officers patrolling the Kano-Maiduguri highway on May 30 intercepted two suspects, Abubakar Hussein and Sahabi Adamu, in possession of $900,000 in counterfeit cash.
Meanwhile, in Adamawa State, a Toyota Sienna containing 390 compressed blocks of skunk cannabis (275.3 kilograms) was found abandoned along the Ngurore-Yola road.
In Kwara State, on May 31, NDLEA agents arrested a well-known female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, in Ilorin’s Oja Oba area. Quantities of tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine syrup were seized from her.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) praised the agency’s field units for their coordinated efforts in targeting both the supply and demand arms of the drug trade nationwide.
DailyTrust
