Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have uncovered and dismantled a syndicate that sponsors Hajj pilgrims who also serve as couriers to move cocaine to Saudi Arabia during the pilgrimage. This followed the arrest of leaders of the cartel in Kano.
The arrest of the kingpins—Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba—on Tuesday, 27th and Wednesday, 28th May 2025 in Kano, was a follow-up to the arrest of two pilgrims: Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Monday, 26th May during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 940 to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The interdiction of the intending pilgrims at the NDLEA final screening point at the Kano airport was based on credible intelligence. When they were taken for scanning, the result confirmed ingestion of illicit substances. They were subsequently placed on excretion observation during which they excreted 45 wraps of cocaine each, bringing the total for both to 90 pellets with a total weight of 1.04 kg.
Investigation soon unraveled their sponsors as leaders of a notorious drug trafficking network that specializes in trafficking illicit drugs to Saudi Arabia. A swift follow-up operation was carried out, and the trio of Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba were arrested on Tuesday, 27th and Wednesday, 28th May 2025 in Kano.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives at the Kano airport on Wednesday, 28th May, intercepted a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR1432 to Iran. His body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit substances, as a result of which he was placed on excretion observation, during which he excreted 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41 kg.
At the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State, no fewer than seven watch-listed containers were positioned for joint examination by NDLEA officers, men of the Customs Service, and other security agencies between Wednesday, 28th and Friday, 30th May. During the examination, 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and Trodol worth N5,776,400,000 in street value were seized. A total of 5,100,000 pills of opioids—especially Tapentadol 225mg—worth N3,570,000,000 were also recovered. This brings the combined street value of the opioids to N9,346,400,000.00.
In another operation in Kano, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Kano-Maiduguri road on Friday, 30th May, intercepted the duo of Abubakar Hussein, 42, and Sahabi Adamu, 53, with $900,000 cash suspected to be counterfeit. The suspects and the exhibit will be transferred to the appropriate agency for further investigation.
While a total of 390 compressed blocks of skunk—a strain of cannabis— weighing 275.300 kg were recovered from a parked Toyota Sienna vehicle marked YLA-408GG along Ngurore-Yola road, Adamawa State, on Tuesday, 27th May, NDLEA operatives in Kwara on Saturday, 31st May, arrested a notorious female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, at the Oja Oba area of Ilorin, where various quantities of opioids including tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine-based syrup were seized from her.
The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands equally continued across the country in the past week. Some of them include WADA sensitization lectures delivered to students and staff of Government Day Senior Secondary School, Kwasarawa, Katsina; Corpus Christi College, Achi, Enugu; Epignosis Standard College, Onitsha, Anambra; Government Girls Secondary School, Utai, Wudil LGA, Kano; and Government Girls Secondary School, Calabar, Cross River, among others.
While commending the officers and men of MAKIA, PHPC, Kano, Kwara, and Adamawa Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
