The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a criminal syndicate involved in trafficking cocaine to Saudi Arabia under the guise of sponsoring pilgrims for Hajj.
This development was announced on Sunday, following a series of coordinated arrests and seizures in Kano State.
According to the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the agency arrested three major suspects, Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba on May 27 and 28.
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Their arrest followed the earlier apprehension of two intending pilgrims at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), who were caught attempting to smuggle cocaine.
The two pilgrims, identified as Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado, were intercepted on Monday, May 26, while trying to board Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 940 en route to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA officials subjected them to body scans, which revealed they had ingested illegal drugs.
Both suspects were placed under excretion watch, during which they each expelled 45 wraps of cocaine, totalling 90 pellets with a combined weight of 1.04 kilograms.
This discovery prompted further investigations that led to the arrest of the cartel’s alleged leaders.
In a separate incident at the same airport, NDLEA operatives arrested a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, on May 28.
He was caught attempting to travel to Iran via Qatar Airways flight QR1432 after ingesting 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41 kilograms.
At the Port Harcourt Ports Complex (PHPC) in Onne, Rivers State, NDLEA officers, in collaboration with Customs and other security agencies, intercepted seven shipping containers between May 28 and 30, 2025.
These containers were found to contain a total of 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and Trodol. The street value of the codeine-based products was estimated at ₦5.78 billion, while the total value of all intercepted opioids stood at ₦9.35 billion.
On May 30, along the Kano–Maiduguri Road, NDLEA personnel stopped two men, Abubakar Hussein (aged 42) and Sahabi Adamu (aged 53), who were found in possession of $900,000 in suspected counterfeit currency.
The suspects and the fake cash were handed over to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.
Similarly, on May 27, NDLEA officers recovered 390 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa, popularly known as skunk, weighing 275.3 kilograms. The drugs were discovered inside an abandoned Toyota Sienna minivan with registration number YLA-408GG on the Ngurore–Yola Road in Adamawa State.
On May 31, the agency arrested a well-known female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, in the Oja Oba area of Ilorin, Kwara State.
During the operation, various quantities of tramadol, flunitrazepam, and bottles of codeine-based syrup were seized from her residence.
As part of its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, the NDLEA conducted anti-drug awareness lectures at several schools across Nigeria.
These schools included Government Day Senior Secondary School in Kwasarawa, Katsina State; Corpus Christi College in Achi, Enugu State; Epignosis Standard College in Onitsha, Anambra State; and Government Girls Secondary Schools in both Utai, Kano State and Calabar, Cross River State.
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The Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retired), commended the officers and personnel of the MAKIA, PHPC, Kano, Kwara, and Adamawa Commands for their outstanding efforts during the week.
He also praised all NDLEA formations nationwide for their consistent work in reducing both the supply of and demand for illicit drugs through a combination of enforcement and public education.
