Hajj pilgrims excrete 90 wraps of cocaine at Kano airport

Hajj pilgrims excrete 90 wraps of cocaine at Kano airport

• NDLEA seizes N9.3bn drugs in six days

Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) has confirmed the seizure of drugs and illicit items worth over N9.3bn during a six-day anti-narcotics operation across different states from Monday May 26 to Saturday 31st May 2025.

The agency said it dismantled a major cocaine smuggling network that exploited hajj pilgrimage routes, intercepted counterfeit cash, and confiscated large quantities of opioids, cannabis, and codeine-based syrup.

The crackdown began with the arrest of two hajj-bound pilgrims, Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Monday, 26th May.

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Both men were intercepted while attempting to board Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 940 to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

A statement by the NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said body scans revealed they had ingested illicit substances.

He said, “Under excretion observation, each suspect expelled 45 wraps of cocaine, totalling 90 pellets weighing 1.04kg.”

Further investigation led to the arrest of three suspected cartel leaders, Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba, on Tuesday and Wednesday in Kano.

The agency said the syndicate specialised in “trafficking cocaine to Saudi Arabia by sponsoring drug mules disguised as pilgrims.”

Also, NDLEA personnel on Tuesday, 27th May in Adamawa State, recovered 390 compressed blocks of skunk, a potent form of cannabis, from a parked Toyota Sienna vehicle along the Ngurore–Yola road.

In another Kano airport operation on Wednesday, 28th May, NDLEA officers apprehended 60-year-old businessman Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, en route to Iran on Qatar Airways flight QR1432.

He excreted 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41kg after a body scan indicated ingestion.

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At the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers State, NDLEA operatives working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security personnel examined seven flagged containers between 28th and 30th May.

They recovered: “825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and trodol valued at N5.8bn.

“5.1 million pills of opioids, mostly tapentadol 225mg, worth N3.6bn”.

According to Babafemi, these seizures bring the total street value of the drugs confiscated at the port to N9.3bn.

On Friday, May 30, along the Kano–Maiduguri road, officers intercepted Abubakar Hussein (42) and Sahabi Adamu (53) with $900,000 in suspected counterfeit cash.

The suspects and the money are under investigation by the relevant authorities.

In Kwara State, on Saturday 31st May, NDLEA arrested a known female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, in the Oja Oba area of Ilorin. Seized from her premises were assorted quantities of tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine-based syrup.

Commending his officers, Marwa reaffirmed NDLEA’s commitment to balancing drug supply reduction with preventive education.

Hajj pilgrims excrete 90 wraps of cocaine at Kano airport