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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested two Saudi-bound pilgrims at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport after they ingested illicit substances.
NDLEA officers placed the suspects under excretion observation, during which each expelled 45 wraps of cocaine—90 pellets in total—weighing 1.04kg.
The agency said credible intelligence led to their arrest at the final screening point. Scans confirmed the suspects had ingested drugs.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi announced on Sunday that the agency had dismantled a syndicate that sponsored Hajj pilgrims to act as drug couriers to Saudi Arabia.
Investigators arrested three suspected ringleaders—Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba—on May 27 and 28 in Kano.
In a related case, NDLEA operatives intercepted 60-year-old businessman Chinedu Leonard Okigbo at the same airport while he attempted to board a Qatar Airways flight to Iran. After a body scan confirmed ingestion, he was placed under observation and excreted 65 wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.41kg.
At Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Rivers State, NDLEA, in collaboration with Customs and other agencies, examined seven flagged containers between May 28 and 30. They seized 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and tramadol valued at ₦5.7 billion, along with 5.1 million opioid pills worth ₦3.57 billion, bringing the total street value to ₦9.3 billion.
In another operation on the Kano–Maiduguri Road on May 30, officers intercepted Abubakar Hussein, 42, and Sahabi Adamu, 53, carrying $900,000 in suspected counterfeit currency. Authorities will hand the suspects and the cash to the appropriate agency for further investigation.
Elsewhere, officers recovered 390 blocks of skunk weighing 275.3kg from a parked Toyota Sienna along Ngurore–Yola Road in Adamawa State on May 27. In Ilorin, Kwara State, NDLEA arrested Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, a known female dealer, and seized quantities of tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine syrup from her shop on May 31.
The NDLEA also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign nationwide. Officers delivered sensitisation lectures at schools in Katsina, Enugu, Anambra, Kano, and Cross River.
The NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), commended the agency’s officers in Kano, PHPC, Kwara, and Adamawa for their operations and balanced approach to supply and demand reduction.
