NDLEA Cracks Down on Hajj Drug Syndicate: Arrests Three Kingpins Sponsoring Pilgrims as Cocaine Couriers to Saudi Arabia, Seizes ₦9.35bn in Codeine and Pills Nationwide
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a criminal syndicate that exploited religious pilgrimages to smuggle hard drugs to Saudi Arabia, arresting three key cartel leaders in Kano.
The breakthrough came after two pilgrims — Ibrahim Mustapha and Muhammad Shifado — were caught at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on May 26 while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Jeddah. A body scan revealed they had ingested 45 wraps of cocaine each, totaling 90 pellets and weighing 1.04kg.
Following swift investigations, NDLEA operatives arrested the alleged sponsors — Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba — on May 27 and 28 in Kano.
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In a separate incident at the same airport, 60-year-old businessman Chinedu Leonard Okigbo was intercepted while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight to Iran. He excreted 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41kg after a scan showed he had ingested drugs.
Meanwhile, at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, NDLEA officers examined seven flagged containers between May 28 and May 30. The inspection led to a massive seizure: 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and trodol, along with 5.1 million tablets of tapentadol 225mg. The street value of the haul is estimated at ₦9.35 billion.
Further north, on May 30, NDLEA officers patrolling the Kano-Maiduguri highway arrested Abubakar Hussein (42) and Sahabi Adamu (53) with $900,000 in suspected counterfeit currency.
In Adamawa, authorities found 390 compressed blocks of cannabis (skunk) weighing 275.3kg in an abandoned Toyota Sienna along the Ngurore–Yola Road.
In Ilorin, Kwara State, a notorious female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, was arrested on May 31. Various quantities of opioids including tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine-based syrup were recovered from her home.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the agency’s operatives for their relentless efforts across states, applauding their success in reducing both drug supply and demand across Nigeria.
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