In a sweeping anti-narcotics operation that has shocked the nation, Nigerian authorities have dismantled a sophisticated drug trafficking syndicate that was using religious pilgrims as mules to smuggle cocaine into Saudi Arabia during the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), in a statement released on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, revealed that the criminal network was exposed following the arrest of three kingpins in Kano State — Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba.
The crackdown began with a dramatic interception at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on Monday, May 26, 2025, where two intending pilgrims — Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado — were flagged during the final screening for an Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 940 bound for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
According to Babafemi, intelligence-led profiling prompted a body scan, which confirmed the ingestion of illicit drugs. The suspects were placed under excretion observation, during which they expelled a combined 90 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.04 kilograms.
“Following their confession and further investigation, our operatives swiftly moved in to arrest the drug ring’s ringleaders, who had sponsored the pilgrims with the express purpose of trafficking cocaine into the Holy Land,” Babafemi stated.
This chilling revelation underscores a disturbing trend where traffickers exploit religious devotion and international pilgrimage routes to perpetrate their criminal enterprises. The arrest of the cartel leaders marks a major victory for the NDLEA, but it also raises serious concerns about the integrity of pilgrimage operations and the vulnerability of unsuspecting pilgrims.
The NDLEA’s efforts did not stop in Kano. On Tuesday, May 28, another high-stakes arrest was made at the same airport. A 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, was intercepted during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR1432 to Iran. A body scan revealed he had ingested 65 wraps of cocaine, weighing a total of 1.41kg. He is currently in custody and facing prosecution.
Meanwhile, at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State, NDLEA officers in collaboration with Customs and other security agencies conducted a joint inspection of seven suspicious containers between May 28 and 30. The results were staggering.
Massive Drug Seizures in Port Harcourt Worth Billions
From the containers, operatives recovered:
825,200 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup and trodol, with an estimated street value of ₦5.77 billion, and
5.1 million pills of opioids, notably tapentadol 225mg, worth ₦3.57 billion.
Combined, the street value of these dangerous opioids totals an eye-watering ₦9.35 billion, signaling one of the largest single seizures in recent NDLEA history.
On May 30, NDLEA operatives intercepted two men — 42-year-old Abubakar Hussein and 53-year-old Sahabi Adamu — on the Kano-Maiduguri Road, in possession of $900,000 in suspected counterfeit cash. The suspects are being transferred to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.
In Adamawa State, 390 compressed blocks of skunk, a potent cannabis strain weighing 275.3 kilograms, were found in an abandoned Toyota Sienna along Ngurore-Yola Road on Tuesday, May 27.
And in Ilorin, Kwara State, the dragnet caught one of the region’s most notorious female drug peddlers, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, at the bustling Oja Oba market. Officers recovered significant quantities of tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine-based syrup during the raid.
Femi Babafemi emphasized that these operations reflect NDLEA’s unwavering resolve to root out narcotics trafficking, no matter how complex or deeply embedded the syndicates may be.
“The agency is determined to disrupt the supply chains of illicit drugs — from the street-level peddlers to the high-profile financiers — and prevent Nigeria from becoming a hub for international drug trafficking,” he said.
As the NDLEA continues to close in on traffickers exploiting sacred spaces, commercial hubs, and international airports, Nigerians are watching closely, hopeful that the country’s anti-drug war is finally turning a decisive corner.
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