The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered and dismantled a criminal syndicate that specialised 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.
A statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said
the two suspects, Ibrahim Mustapha and Muhammad Shifado, were intercepted on May 26 during the outward clearance of passengers on the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 940 to Jeddah.
Acting on credible intelligence, he said the 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 and weighing 1.04kg.
“An 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, Babafemi said the NDLEA officers at the same airport arrested a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, on Wednesday.
Babafemi said he was intercepted during the clearance for Qatar Airways flight QR1432 to Iran.
“His body scan confirmed he ingested illicit substances, as a result of which he was placed on excretion observation, during which 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.
He added that the operation yielded a massive haul of 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and trodol, valued at N5.78bn, along with 5.1 million pills of tapentadol 225mg valued at N3.57bn —bringing the total street value to N9.35bn.
In another major bust also in Kano, Babafemi said the NDLEA operatives patrolling along the Kano-Maiduguri Road on May 30 intercepted Abubakar Hussein (42) and Sahabi Adamu (53) with $900,000 in suspected counterfeit currency.
He said the case had 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.
In Kwara State, he said a notorious female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, was arrested on May 31 at the Oja Oba area of Ilorin.
“Various quantities of opioids, including tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine-based syrup, were recovered from her residence,” he added.
Commending the agency’s operatives for their commitment, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), praised the commands at the MAKIA, PHPC, Kano, Kwara, and Adamawa for their recent achievements.
He also lauded officers across the country for maintaining a strategic balance between drug supply reduction and demand reduction efforts.
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