NDLEA busts Hajj drug ring, arrests kingpins, seizes ₦9.3bn opioids

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has busted a major drug trafficking syndicate that sponsored Nigerian pilgrims to smuggle cocaine to Saudi Arabia under the guise of Hajj pilgrimage.

The three leaders of the cartel were arrested in Kano, following the earlier arrest of two pilgrims at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.

The pilgrims, Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado, were intercepted on May 26 during outbound clearance for an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Jeddah.

Based on intelligence, NDLEA operatives discovered that the suspects had ingested illicit drugs. Upon further observation, both excreted a total of 90 wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.04kg.

Subsequent investigations led to the arrest of their alleged sponsors—Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba—on May 27 and 28 in Kano.

In a related operation, NDLEA operatives also arrested a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, at the Kano airport. He was en route to Iran aboard a Qatar Airways flight when a body scan revealed he had ingested 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41kg.

Read also:NDLEA seizes N6.5bn opioids at ports, nabs two Brits

Meanwhile, in Port Harcourt, the agency intercepted seven containers at the Onne Ports Complex between May 28 and 30. The containers contained 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and Trodol, valued at ₦5.78 billion, and 5.1 million pills of opioids—mainly Tapentadol—worth ₦3.57 billion. The total street value of the drugs seized stands at over ₦9.34 billion.

In another bust along the Kano-Maiduguri road on May 30, NDLEA operatives intercepted Abubakar Hussein (42) and Sahabi Adamu (53) in possession of $900,000 in suspected counterfeit cash. The suspects and the currency have been handed over to relevant authorities for further investigation.

In Adamawa, 390 blocks of skunk cannabis, weighing 275.3kg, were recovered from a parked Toyota Sienna along the Ngurore–Yola road on May 27.

Also in Kwara State, a notorious female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, was arrested at Oja Oba in Ilorin. Various quantities of opioids, including tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine-based syrup, were recovered from her.

The NDLEA also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy across the country with sensitization programs in schools across Katsina, Enugu, Anambra, Kano, and Cross River states.

Chairman and CEO of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers in Kano, Port Harcourt, Kwara, and Adamawa Commands for their effective operations. He also praised the agency’s nationwide commitment to curbing both drug supply and demand.