In a jaw-dropping crackdown, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have uncovered a chilling plot involving a drug syndicate that sponsored Muslim pilgrims to smuggle cocaine to Saudi Arabia under the guise of religious devotion.

Two Saudi-bound pilgrims, Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado, were arrested at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on Monday, 26th May, after scans revealed they had ingested illicit drugs.

According to Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s spokesman in a statement, held under excretion watch, both suspects expelled 45 wraps of cocaine each, totalling 90 wraps weighing 1.04kg.

Acting swiftly on intelligence, NDLEA operatives raided locations in Kano, nabbing three notorious drug kingpins: Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba, all identified as masterminds behind the pilgrimage drug courier network.

But the week’s drug drama didn’t end there.

In a separate operation at the same airport on Wednesday, a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, bound for Iran on Qatar Airways, was caught after body scans showed he had ingested 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41kg.

He too underwent excretion monitoring and was taken into custody.

Meanwhile, at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Rivers State, NDLEA agents, in a joint operation with Customs and other security forces, uncovered a staggering N9.3 billion worth of opioids hidden in seven watch-listed containers.

The haul included 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 5.1 million pills of high-strength opioids — a massive seizure described as one of the biggest in recent history.

In another shocking bust on the Kano-Maiduguri highway, two men — Abubakar Hussein (42) and Sahabi Adamu (53) — were intercepted with $900,000 in suspected counterfeit currency. Authorities say the case has been transferred for further investigation.

Across the country, the NDLEA kept the heat on. In Adamawa, 390 compressed blocks of skunk cannabis, weighing 275.3kg, were found abandoned in a Toyota Sienna along the Ngurore-Yola road.

And in Kwara, a feared female drug baroness, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, was apprehended at Oja Oba, Ilorin. A stash of Tramadol, Flunitrazepam, and codeine-based syrup was recovered from her hideout.

NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended his officers for their “tireless courage” and pledged unrelenting efforts to crush criminal networks poisoning the nation’s future.