By our Reporter
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has uncovered and dismantled a criminal syndicate specialising in sponsoring Hajj pilgrims as drug couriers to Saudi Arabia, arresting three key cartel leaders in Kano.
The kingpins, Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba, were apprehended on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 27 and 28, in follow-up operations after two intending pilgrims were arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, with 90 cocaine pellets.
According to a statement released on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the two suspects, Ibrahim Mustapha and Muhammad Shifado, were intercepted on May 26 during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 940 to Jeddah.
Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives subjected the pilgrims to a body scan, which confirmed ingestion of illicit substances.
Babafemi added that they were placed under excretion observation and subsequently excreted 45 wraps of cocaine each, totalling 90 pellets weighing 1.04kg.
“Investigation soon unravelled their sponsors as leaders of a notorious drug trafficking network, which specialises 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 May 27 and 28, 2025 in Kano, ” he added.
Also in Kano, NDLEA officers at the same airport arrested a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, on Wednesday, 28 May.
Babafemi said he was intercepted during clearance for Qatar Airways flight QR1432 to Iran.
“His body scan confirmed ingestion of illicit substances, and during excretion observation, he excreted 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41kg,” he added.
Elsewhere, Babafemi said operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, in Rivers State, conducted a joint examination of seven watch-listed containers between May 28 and May 30.
The operation yielded a massive haul of 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—bringing the total street value to ₦9.35 billion.
In another major bust in Kano, NDLEA operatives patrolling the Kano-Maiduguri Road on 30 May intercepted Abubakar Hussein (42) and Sahabi Adamu (53) with $900,000 in suspected counterfeit currency.
The case has been transferred to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.
In Adamawa State, 390 compressed blocks of skunk cannabis weighing 275.3kg were discovered abandoned in a Toyota Sienna parked along Ngurore–Yola Road on Tuesday, May 27.
In Kwara State, a notorious female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, was arrested on 31 May at the Oja Oba area of Ilorin.
“Various quantities of opioids, including tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine-based syrup, were recovered from her residence,” Babafemi added.
Commending the agency’s operatives for their commitment, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), praised the Commands at MAKIA, PHPC, Kano, Kwara, and Adamawa for their recent achievements.
He also lauded officers nationwide for maintaining a strategic balance between drug supply reduction and demand reduction efforts.
