By Suleiman Anyalewechi
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA, on Sunday, June 1,2025, announced the uncovering of a deadly syndicate that specializes in smuggling hard drugs and other dangerous substances into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The drug gang, the agency indicated, uses intending Muslim pilgrims to the Holy Land as couriers for its nefarious activities.
A statement from NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, informed that the syndicate was busted following the arrest of two intending pilgrims at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport Kano.
The duo of Ibrahim Umar Mustapha ,and Muhammad Sirajo Shifado was on May 26, 2025, intercepted while trying to board an Ethiopian Airline Flight to Jedda, Saudi Arabia.
The suspects were said to have ingested illicit substances,
and upon close examination and observation, excreted a total of 90 wraps of substances suspected to be cocaine.
Each of the two suspects was said to have ingested and excreted 45 wraps of the illicit substance.
According to the agency, the interception of the suspects was sequel to the receipt of actionable intelligence, noting that a subsequent scanning exercise after their arrest incontrovertibly confirmed ingestion of hard drugs.
Babafemi put the total weight of the 90 wraps of substances recovered at about 1.04kg.
The NDLEA further noted that the arrest led to the discovery and subsequent dismantling a the syndicate that sponsors Muslim pilgrims ,who serve as couriers of hard drugs to the Saudi Arabia.
The agency informed that mop up operations, resulted in the apprehension of the leaders of the gang in Kano.
“Investigation soon unraveled their sponsors as leaders of a a notorious drug trafficking network which specializes in trafficking illicit drugs to Saudi Arabia.
“A swift follow-up operation was carried out and the trio of Abdulhakeem Muhammed, Abubakar Muhammad ,and Muhammad Aji Shugaba were arrested on May 27, 2025 in Kano”, NDLEA State.
Meanwhile, in another development, the agency noted that its operatives on May 28, 2025, also nabbed a 60-year old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo during a clearance operation of passengers of an Iran bound Qatar Airways Flight .in connection with the ingestion of about 65 wraps of hard substances weighing 1.41kg.
Similarly, at the Onne Port in Port Harcourt, the agency said operators in conjunction with Customs Service personnel intercepted about 825,200 bottles of banned codeine-based syrup and trodol with a street value of over N5.7 billion .
According to the NDLEA spokesman, the operation which was carried out between May 28 and 30, 2025, followed the watch-listing of about seven containers which were positioned for examination by the agency, and other security agencies at the port.
Also during the operation, a total of 5,100,000 pills of opioid, especially tapentadol 225mg with a street value of over N3.5 billion were recovered .
“In another operation in Kano, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Kano/Maiduguri road on Friday May 30,intercepted the duo of Abubakar Hussein, 42, and Sahabi Adamu 53, with $ 900,000 cash suspected to be counterfeit.
The suspects and the exhibit will be transfered to the appropriate agency for further investigation”, Babafemi noted.
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