Eric Patrick
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered a major drug trafficking syndicate exploiting religious pilgrims to smuggle cocaine to Saudi Arabia, leading to the arrest of three alleged kingpins and the interception of over N9.3 billion worth of illicit drugs in separate operations nationwide.
The breakthrough followed the arrest of two intending pilgrims, Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) on Monday, May 26. The suspects were intercepted during the final screening for Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 940 to Jeddah.
According to a statement released on Sunday by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, a body scan revealed both suspects had ingested illicit substances. Under medical observation, they excreted a total of 90 wraps of cocaine — 45 each — weighing 1.04 kilograms.
Swift investigations led to the arrest of three suspected ringleaders — Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba — in coordinated follow-up operations on May 27 and 28 in Kano.
In a separate case, NDLEA officers at MAKIA arrested 60-year-old businessman Chinedu Leonard Okigbo while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Iran. He was found to have ingested 65 wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.41 kilograms.
Meanwhile, in Rivers State, NDLEA operatives, working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted seven containers at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, between May 28 and 30. The operation yielded 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and Trodol, valued at N5.77 billion, and 5.1 million pills of Tapentadol, worth N3.57 billion — a total estimated street value of N9.35 billion.
In another development, operatives on patrol along the Kano–Maiduguri Highway arrested two men, Abubakar Hussein (42) and Sahabi Adamu (53), with $900,000 in suspected counterfeit currency. The case has been handed over to relevant authorities for further investigation.
Elsewhere in Adamawa State, NDLEA officers recovered 390 compressed blocks of skunk, a potent cannabis strain, weighing 275.3 kilograms from an abandoned Toyota Sienna along the Ngurore–Yola road on May 27.
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In Ilorin, Kwara State, on May 31, operatives arrested a notorious female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, during a sting operation. Various quantities of opioids including Tramadol, Flunitrazepam, and Codeine syrup were seized from her residence in the Oja Oba area.
NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the agency’s commands in Kano, Rivers, Kwara, and Adamawa for their diligent efforts. He also praised the ongoing advocacy under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, which recently extended sensitisation campaigns to schools in Katsina, Enugu, Anambra, Kano, and Cross River States.
“These successful operations demonstrate our agency’s resolve to dismantle drug supply networks and eliminate trafficking routes — even those masked as religious pilgrimages,” Marwa said.
The NDLEA reiterated its commitment to disrupting both the supply and demand of illicit drugs across the country.
