The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made significant strides in its fight against narcotics, intercepting 1.04 kilograms of cocaine from two pilgrims bound for Saudi Arabia and arresting the kingpins behind the notorious drug trafficking network.
Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado were caught at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on May 26, 2025, after ingesting illicit substances, which they later excreted, revealing 90 pellets of cocaine.
Further investigation led to the arrest of Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba, the leaders of the cartel that specializes in trafficking illicit drugs to Saudi Arabia during pilgrimage.
In a related development, a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, was intercepted at the Kano airport with 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41 kilograms, intended for Iran.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives seized 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and Trodol worth ₦5.7 billion and 5,100,000 pills of opioids worth ₦3.57 billion at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex.
The agency also recovered $900,000 suspected to be counterfeit and 390 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 275.300 kilograms in separate operations. NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa commended the officers for their efforts in maintaining a balance between drug supply reduction and demand reduction.
