NDLEA Intercepts Saudi-Bound Pilgrims Carrying Cocaine Weighing 1.04kg In Kano

NDLEA Intercepts Saudi-Bound Pilgrims Carrying Cocaine Weighing 1.04kg In Kano

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested three key cartel leaders in Kano who specialized in using Hajj pilgrims as drug couriers to Saudi Arabia. The agency successfully intercepted and dismantled a criminal syndicate during passenger screening in Kano.

The three kingpins,Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba were apprehended on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 27 and 28, 2025, during follow-up operations after two intending pilgrims were arrested at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport with 90 cocaine pellets.

According to a statement released on Sunday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the two suspects, Ibrahim Mustapha and Muhammad Shifado, were intercepted on May 26 during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 940 bound for Jeddah.

Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives subjected the pilgrims to body scans, which confirmed the ingestion of illicit substances. Babafemi explained that the suspects were placed under excretion observation and subsequently excreted a total of 90 wraps of cocaine 45 wraps each weighing 1.04 kilograms.

“Investigation soon revealed their sponsors as leaders of a notorious drug trafficking network specializing in smuggling illicit drugs to Saudi Arabia. A swift follow-up operation led to the arrest of Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba on May 27 and 28, 2025, in Kano,” he added.

Also in Kano, Babafemi reported that NDLEA officers at the same airport arrested a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, on Wednesday during clearance for Qatar Airways flight QR1432 to Iran.

“His body scan confirmed ingestion of illicit substances. Consequently, he was placed under excretion observation, during which he excreted 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41 kilograms,” Babafemi said.

In another significant bust in Kano, NDLEA operatives patrolling the Kano-Maiduguri Road on May 30 intercepted Abubakar Hussein (42) and Sahabi Adamu (53), who were found carrying $900,000 in suspected counterfeit currency. The case has been transferred to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.

In Adamawa State, authorities discovered 390 compressed blocks of skunk cannabis weighing 275.3 kilograms abandoned in a Toyota Sienna parked along Ngurore–Yola Road on Tuesday.

In Kwara State, 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, Babafemi confirmed.

Commending the agency’s operatives for their dedication, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd) praised the commands at MAKIA, PHPC, Kano, Kwara, and Adamawa for their recent successes.

He also lauded officers nationwide for maintaining a strategic balance between efforts to reduce drug supply and demand.