NDLEA Uncovers Drug Syndicate Exploiting Hajj Pilgrims as Couriers
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a criminal syndicate that specialized in using Hajj pilgrims as drug couriers to Saudi Arabia. This operation led to the arrest of three key cartel leaders in Kano.
According to a statement by NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, the arrests followed the interception of two intending pilgrims, Ibrahim Mustapha and Muhammad Shifado, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on May 26. The suspects were found with 90 cocaine pellets during the outward clearance for an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Jeddah.
Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives subjected the pilgrims to a body scan, confirming the ingestion of illicit substances. Both individuals were placed under excretion observation and subsequently excreted 45 wraps of cocaine each, totaling 1.04 kilograms.
Further investigations led to the arrest of the syndicate’s leaders—Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba—on May 27 and 28 in Kano. The NDLEA described the group as a notorious drug trafficking network specializing in smuggling illicit drugs to Saudi Arabia.
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In a related development, NDLEA officers at the same airport arrested a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, on May 28. He was intercepted during the clearance for a Qatar Airways flight to Iran. A body scan confirmed he had ingested illicit substances, leading to his placement under excretion observation, during which he excreted 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41 kilograms.
Additionally, NDLEA 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.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), commended the agency’s operatives for their commitment and emphasized the importance of maintaining a strategic balance between drug supply reduction and demand reduction efforts.
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