Nigeria’s war against illicit drug trafficking moved a notch up as National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) nabbed 55-year-old alleged drug kingpin, Mohammed Ali Abubakar (alias Bello Karama) and five members of his syndicate.
NDLEA said they were rounded up over the arrest of three Nigerians currently detained in Saudi Arabia for drug trafficking.
Saudi Arabia has zero tolerance for drug trade and routinely executes persons found guilty of the offence by their courts.
At a press conference today, August 25, in Abuja, the Nigeria capital, NDLEA said the suspects, who operated at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, checked in bags containing illicit substances in the names of three unsuspecting pilgrims travelling to Jeddah for lesser hajj on August 6, 2025.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, who addressed the conference alongside the Director of Assets and Financial Investigation, Dr. Abdul Ibrahim, and the Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Theresa Asuquo, named the three victims as Mrs. Maryam Hussain Abdullahi, Mrs. Abdullahi Bahijja Aminu, and Mr. Abdulhamid Saddiq.
They were nabbed in Jeddah after arriving on Ethiopian Airline flight ET940.
Babafemi disclosed that NDLEA investigations revealed that extra bags containing drugs were tagged to their names without their knowledge by members of the syndicate in collusion with aviation handling staff.
According to Babafemi, Abubakar, who allegedly masterminded the operation, travelled to Jeddah the same day on Egypt Air, while his associates allegedly checked in seven bags in the names of the victims.
He added that one suspect, Celestina Emmanuel Yayock, admitted checking in two of the bags for a fee of N100,000, while another, Jazuli Kabir, confessed to handling two others for the same amount.
Six suspects are currently in NDLEA custody, with four already charged to court, including Abubakar, Abdulbasit Adamu, Murtala Akande Olalekan, and Yayock,he said.
Babafemi said the agency is engaging with Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) to secure the release of the three Nigerians.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), will meet GDNC officials during an international drug conference and is prepared to travel to Saudi Arabia over the matter, if necessary,Babafemi said.
“The facts clearly show that these Nigerians are victims of criminal conspiracies, and we will not allow them to suffer unjustly,” Babafemi said.
