NDLEA seizes cocaine worth N39bn, arrests two suspected cartel members

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the seizure of 184.5 kilogrammes of cocaine worth about N39 billion and the arrest of two alleged members of an international drug trafficking syndicate.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Buba Marwa, disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing journalists on what he described as one of the agency’s most significant investigations in recent years.

Mr Marwa said the seizure, valued at about $27.7 million, was the largest interception of cocaine through a courier channel in the agency’s history.

According to him, the consignment was intercepted in Lagos while being processed for export through a courier logistics company.

He stated that the investigation uncovered an international trafficking network allegedly using Nigeria as a transit point for moving cocaine from South America to the United Kingdom, other parts of Europe and Asia.

“Given the scale and sophistication of this seizure, I immediately directed the constitution of a special investigation team with a clear mandate to trace every mind and hand that touched this consignment and bring the entire network, not just the couriers, but the masterminds, to justice,” Mr Marwa said.

He noted that investigators worked with the management of the courier company to trace the logistics agents, intermediary companies and individuals connected with the shipment.

The investigation eventually led to the arrest of two suspects, including a logistics company employee and a businessman and social media personality identified by the agency as Afolabi Kazeem Michael, popularly known as KC Luxury.

Alleged cartel ringleader

Mr Marwa described Mr Michael as the Nigerian “arrowhead” of the international cartel.

According to him, Mr Michael publicly presented himself as a businessman and social media influencer involved in gold, jewellery and luxury goods, but allegedly used the image to conceal his involvement in the drug trafficking network.

The NDLEA chairman said Mr Michael was arrested on 13 August at the boarding gate of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, after the agency received intelligence that he planned to leave Nigeria on a business-class flight to Paris.

Operatives, he noted, arrested him before he could board the flight.

They allegedly recovered €7,750, £2,800 and N100,000 in cash, as well as expensive jewellery, from him.

A search of his luxury apartment on Banana Island, Lagos, also led to the recovery of exotic vehicles and other assets, Mr Marwa said.

He explained that investigators established that the syndicate operated a trafficking route from South America through Nigeria to the UK, using false identities, financial facilitators and contacts in the UK.

“Some of them, I am happy to confirm, have since been arrested by our counterparts abroad in connection with the same syndicate,” he said.

The chairman revealed that the second suspect, identified as Lawal Kehinde, an employee of a logistics company, was allegedly linked to the processing and movement of cocaine shipments.

He said the investigation established that the suspect had a sustained relationship with the Nigerian coordinator of the syndicate and was allegedly involved in paying for and processing packages containing cocaine for export.

Courier companies becoming trafficking route

Mr Marwa said the latest investigation highlighted a growing trend in the methods used by international drug trafficking organisations.

He stated that traffickers were increasingly moving away from traditional routes such as seaports and turning to courier and logistics companies, which they allegedly considered less monitored channels for moving narcotics across international borders.

“There is no alternative route into or out of Nigeria for illicit drugs that this agency cannot police,” he said.

The NDLEA chairman explained that the agency would continue to strengthen intelligence-led operations to prevent traffickers from exploiting alternative channels.

He also stressed the importance of international cooperation in dismantling transnational drug networks, noting that suspects linked to the same syndicate had also been arrested abroad.

Mr Marwa cited the dismantling of the Switzerland-based Carlos Meza Torrero drug cartel and the arrest of members of Nigerian-Mexican syndicates allegedly involved in clandestine production of synthetic drugs as examples of the agency’s recent efforts against international trafficking networks.

He commended officers of the NDLEA Special Investigation Team, particularly those coordinated by the Director of Operations and General Investigation, for tracing the alleged network from the intercepted consignment to its suspected Nigerian leadership.

He said the investigation was being handled by the agency’s legal, assets and financial teams, which were working towards the prosecution of the suspects and the confiscation and forfeiture of assets allegedly linked to the criminal enterprise.

Other cocaine seizures

The latest seizure comes weeks after the NDLEA intercepted other consignments of illicit drugs at the Lagos airport and other locations across the country.

On 23 July, NDLEA operatives arrested a 55-year-old businessman, Onuigbo Ndubisi Chinedu, over an alleged attempt to export 3.30 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in the walls of cartons used to package foodstuffs destined for the United Kingdom.

The consignment had been intercepted at the export shed of the Lagos airport on 22 July.

The agency initially arrested three cargo agents — Nkwor Onyekachukwu Justina, Adeleke Abiola Taoheed and Ukanwa Grace Pilgrim — who handled the shipment.

Their arrests led investigators to Kenneth Okakpu, who allegedly delivered the consignment to the cargo agents for shipment to the UK.

The NDLEA said Mr Okakpu’s arrest provided a lead that identified Mr Onuigbo as the alleged kingpin behind the operation. He was subsequently arrested while allegedly attempting to send another cocaine consignment to the UK.

In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives on 21 July arrested a 31-year-old entrepreneur, Emmanuella Chukwu-Edo, at her residence in Surulere, Lagos, following the seizure of 2.80 kilogrammes of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, allegedly imported from the United States.

The consignment arrived aboard a United Airlines flight on 20 July.

At the Lagos airport, the agency also intercepted 2.24 million tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, with an estimated street value of more than N2.2 billion.

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The tablets were recovered from a shipment from India aboard an Air Maroc flight during a joint examination of the cargo on 24 July following intelligence received and processed by the NDLEA.

The seizure came shortly after the agency intercepted another consignment of tramadol concealed in containers of black soap destined for the UK at a courier company in Lagos.

At the Apapa Port, NDLEA operatives and other agencies on 20 July uncovered 2,388.5 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud concealed in a container carrying three vehicles.

The cannabis, packed in 4,777 sachets, was valued by the agency at more than N7.1 billion.

Beyond drug trafficking

The NDLEA also reported arrests involving other forms of illicit activity during its recent operations.

In Katsina State, operatives on patrol at Baure, Safana Local Government Area, arrested a 30-year-old man, Mustapha Sani, who was allegedly found with 323 rounds of ammunition.

The agency said the ammunition comprised 200 rounds of 7.62mm and 123 rounds of 7.6mm ammunition concealed in his possession.

Another 30-year-old suspect, Abubakar Amadu, was arrested during a stop-and-search operation at Jere along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.

He was allegedly found with 73 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition concealed in kegs of red oil.

The two suspects were handed over to the relevant security agency for further investigation, the NDLEA said.

In Edo State, a raid at Ilushi community in Esan South-East Local Government Area on 19 July led to the seizure of 1,286 kilogrammes of cannabis and 86 kilogrammes of cannabis seeds from a warehouse.

Two other suspects, Ojore Onweze, 45, and George Agwumede, 30, were also arrested with 60 kilogrammes and 13 kilogrammes of cannabis respectively, according to the agency.

Alongside the enforcement operations, the NDLEA said its commands and formations continued with its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, places of worship, workplaces and communities.

The agency said recent sensitisation activities were held at Government Day Secondary School, Sabon Wuse, Niger State; Government Girls Secondary School, Shekara, Kano State; and Otto Primary School, Ebute Metta, Lagos, among others.