The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a major drug trafficking network that specialised in using hajj pilgrims as drug couriers to Saudi Arabia, arresting three key cartel leaders in Kano and intercepting several other suspects across the country.
The cartel was uncovered following the arrest of two intending pilgrims, Ibrahim Mustapha and Muhammad Shifado, on May 26, 2025, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano. They were found to have ingested 90 pellets of cocaine, weighing 1.04kg, during a routine passenger clearance for an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Jeddah.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the suspects were placed under excretion observation after body scans confirmed the ingestion of illicit drugs. Investigations led to the arrest of their sponsors — identified as Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba — in a coordinated follow-up operation on May 27 and 28 in Kano.
In a separate incident, NDLEA operatives at MAKIA intercepted a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Iran. He excreted 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41kg after being placed under observation.
In a broader sweep, NDLEA officers at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State, uncovered a massive shipment of illicit pharmaceuticals in seven watch-listed containers. Between May 28 and 30, the operation yielded 825,200 bottles of codeine syrup and trodol, and 5.1 million pills of tapentadol — with a total estimated street value of N9.35 billion.
Further operations across the country uncovered more criminal activity. In Kano, officers arrested two suspects, Abubakar Hussein and Sahabi Adamu, with $900,000 in suspected counterfeit currency on May 30. In Adamawa, 390 blocks of cannabis weighing 275.3kg were found in an abandoned vehicle along the Ngurore–Yola Road. In Ilorin, Kwara State, a notorious female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, was arrested with various quantities of opioids.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), commended the efforts of the agency’s commands in Kano, Port Harcourt, Adamawa, and Kwara. He praised their success in curbing the flow of narcotics, reinforcing the agency’s twin focus on reducing drug supply and demand across Nigeria.
