Cocaine Trafficking: Female pilgrims nabbed in Saudi; police arrest their husbands in Kano
Two husbands, who reported a suspected female drug trafficker to the police in Kano, have been arrested for being complicit in the trafficking of cocaine to Saudi Arabia.
SP Abdullahi Kiyawa, the spokesman of the Kano State Police Command, said upon investigation, it was discovered that the two men were part of a courier arrangement in which their wives were detailed to deliver some quantity of cocaine to a particular lady at a Saudi Arabia airport.
In a statement on Friday in Kano, Mr Kiyawa said the men, Auwal Ishaq of Kawo Quarters and Idris Sani Suleiman of Medile Quarters Kano, jointly reported the female suspect, Sharifat Abdullahi of Kuregen Sani Hotoro, Kano, to the police.
According to the police, sometime in June, Ms Abdullahi contacted Mr Ishaq to allow his two wives to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj and contacted Mr Suleiman for the same reason.
Mr Kiyawa said Mr Ishaq claimed to have paid N6 million on behalf of his two wives, while Mr Suleiman also said he spent N3 million for his wife to be part of the pilgrimage.
The police spokesman said the three women headed for the Hajj on the understanding that they would assist in conveying some undisclosed substance suspected to be cocaine to Saudi Arabia.
The police spokesman said that both complainants became worried after they lost contact with their wives upon their departure to the Holy Land.
He added that this prompted them to lay complaints at the police command.
“On August 11, Auwal came to police with disturbing information he received through a phone call from one of his wives that after the completion of the Hajj, they were arrested by the Saudi Arabian authorities for offences bordering on drug trafficking,“ Mr Kiyawa said.
He pointed out that the police investigation led to the arrest of the principal suspect, Ms Abdullahi, who eventually confessed that the two complainants, Messrs Ishaq and Suleiman, were also part of the deal and were well aware that their wives would be used as drug couriers.
Ms Abdullahi told the police that the three women were detailed to deliver the substance to a lady awaiting them at a Saudi Arabian airport.
According to the police spokesman, Mr Ishaq’s two wives were promised N1 million each on return from the trip, while Mr Suleiman’s wife was promised N150,000 for playing the middleman role
“She (Abdullahi) also confessed to have been conspiring with the second complainant (Suleiman) in recruiting people for a Kano-based cartel of human and drug traffickers.
“Consequently, the two complainants became accused persons and were both arrested,” Mr Kiyawa said.
Meanwhile, the command has transferred the case to the state office of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to complete the investigation.
(NAN)
