Crime
NDLEA arrests drug baron, including female linked to wanted Pakistani cocaine syndicate
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has disclosed the arrest of a wanted drug baron, Alhaji Ademola Afolabi Kazeem, known as Alhaji Abdallah Kazeem Muhammed, owner of Adekaz Hotels, involved in exportation and trafficking of illicit drugs, including money laundering.
The NDLEA Director of Media and Publicity, Femi Babafemi, in a statement revealed that Kazeem Muhammed, was declared wanted on Tuesday 1st November after he refused to honour NDLEA invitations, noting that the agency secured an order of a Federal High Court in Lagos.
Babafemi said that Kazeem was apprehended on Thursday 10th Nov when and taken into the NDLEA custody where he is being investigated for sponsoring drug traffickers earlier arrested by the NDLEA while on transit to export cocaine to Dubai, UAE and other destinations overseas.
NDLEA got intelligence on Kazeem Mohammed after Bolujoko Muyiwa Babalola, a Lagos BRT driver, was arrested on 27th June at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja. Muyiwa implicated Alhaji Ademola Kazeem, alias Adekaz, as the owner of the 900grams of cocaine he ingested.
NDLEA, seeking an order of a Federal High Court in Lagos, secured the following orders to attach and seal his identified properties in choice areas of Lagos Island and Ibadan; declare him wanted and block his bank account with a cash balance of Two Hundred and Seventeen Million Naira (N217,000,000.00), all of which were granted.
The NDLEA also arrested a businesswoman, Okefun Darlington Chisom, linked to two Pakistanis: Asif Muhammed, 45, and Hussain Naveed, 57, earlier arrested at the Lagos airport with 8 kilograms of cocaine concealed in a sound system while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Lahole, Pakistan via Doha on Saturday 5th Nov.
NDLEA added that an automobile parts dealer, Omeje Oliver, a.k.a David Mark, who was arrested on Monday 31st October in Enugu where he fled to after abandoning his business at Aspanda, Trade Fair Complex Lagos, since 16th April in connection with the seizure of 600 grams of heroin concealed inside soles of lady’s footwears going to Liberia, has been linked to another drug seizure.
The Agency revealed that Omeje was also involved in a case of 1.580kg Methamphetamine that was seized from one Victor Nwobodo Friday, who was arrested at the MMIA during his aborted trip to Jakarta, Indonesia, on February 6, 2018. Charges have been filed against the suspect at the Federal High Court, Lagos, in respect of the old seizure in addition to that of the recent one, the Agency said.
NDLEA at the SAHCO import shed of the MMIA Lagos. also intercepted another consignment of Tramadol from Karachi, Pakistan.
A total of 6 cartons comprising 497,900 tablets of Royal Tramaking brand of Tramadol 225mg with a gross weight of 304.90 kilograms were recovered after a joint examination by stakeholders on Friday 11th Nov.
Also, NDLEA operatives in Ogun State in the early hours of Saturday, 12th November, raided a warehouse at Ogere area of Ikene LGA where they seized 273 jumbo bags of cannabis sativa weighing 3,533 kilograms (3.533tons) from a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Jesutofunmi Solomon.
This came on the heels of the seizure of 176kgs of C/S at Ogere trailer park on Wednesday 9th Nov and the destruction of 15 hectares of cannabis plantation in Gbamgbam area of the state.
In the same vein, operatives in Osun state have raided a cannabis plantation at Obada sawmill, Owena Ijesa in Oriade LGA where they destroyed 1.2hectares, recovered 2,823kgs of processed C/S and arrested 13 suspects on Sunday 6th November.
In Ondo, operatives seized 78kgs of cannabis from a dealer, Beauty Godwin at Ofosu along Benin-Ore express road, and another 264kgs from Abdul Rasheed Mohammed, and Abdul Rasheed Haruna at Sanusi camp 2 in Owo, while in Rivers state, anti-narcotics officers of the Agency arrested Damion Onuoha during a raid at Elele Alimini community, Emuoha LGA, where he was found with 1.6kgs of Methamphetamine as well as monetary exhibit amounting to six hundred and fifty thousand, seven hundred naira (N650,700.00).
A joint operation with the military at Habour road, Port Harcourt City also led to the arrest of Sandra David and seizure of different quantities of cocaine and heroin as well as two million, fifty five thousand, seven hundred and fifty naira (N2,055,750.00) cash exhibit from her home.
In Edo state, operatives located and destroyed 10 clusters of cannabis sativa farms measuring 14 hectares at Igwalor forest, Uhunmwonde LGA where five bags of processed C/S weighing 47.7kgs were recovered, while a raid at Obadan village, in the same LGA also led to the recovery 11 bags of cannabis sativa seeds weighing 399kgs and 34 bags of processed substance weighing 431kgs, bringing the total weight to 830kgs. Two suspects: Enododia Sunday and Osayaba Paul were arrested at the scene.