….How KC Luxury Group CEO, associates were nabbed in Lagos, UK — Marwa
…UK-bound N39billion cocaine consignment, cash in Euros, Pounds, luxury jewelry, vehicles recovered
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled an international cocaine trafficking cartel operating across South America, Nigeria, Europe, and Asia, recovering 184.50 kilograms of cocaine valued at N39 billion.
Addressing journalists in Lagos, NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.) revealed that the operation began following the interception of the drug consignment concealed within a courier logistics facility in Lagos marking the largest cocaine recovery made through a courier firm in the country.
According to Marwa, the operation began with the interception of a consignment of 184.50 kilograms of cocaine concealed for onward export through a courier logistics channel in Lagos.
Given the scale of the seizure, he immediately directed the constitution of a Special Investigation Team, with a mandate to trace the entire network behind the shipment.
A Special Investigation Team subsequently traced the network, leading to the arrest of key suspects, including a logistics firm employee, Lawal Mujab Kehinde, who allegedly facilitated shipments to the UK, Europe, and Asia.
The agency also apprehended the alleged Nigerian coordinator of the syndicate, social media influencer and luxury goods dealer Afolabi Kazeem Michael, known online as “KC Luxury.” Afolabi was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on August 13 while attempting to board a flight to Paris.
Operatives recovered foreign currency and jewelry from his person, while a subsequent search of his Banana Island residence yielded exotic vehicles.
Marwa noted that the cartel utilized false identities, financial facilitators, and international contacts, with related arrests executed concurrently by UK authorities.
He linked the operation to a string of recent successes against transnational drug networks, including the dismantling of the Switzerland-based Simon Amadi drug cartel, which laundered proceeds worth millions of dollars through the dark web market places, and the takedown of two Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine syndicates that ran clandestine laboratories in forests in Ogun and Oyo States.
“These operations send an unmistakable signal that this Agency’s reach extends into the ports, the forests, the luxury apartments, and the departure lounges alike, and that no sanctuary exists anywhere in Nigeria for those who traffic in poison,” Marwa said
He noted a worrying shift by drug trafficking organisations away from seaports and airports, where scrutiny has intensified, towards courier and logistics companies, which they wrongly assume to be softer, less monitored channels. He described the dismantling of the cartel as proof that the Agency has both the capacity and capability to detect traffickers wherever they hide.
“There is a further, and equally important, significance to this particular success. In recent times, we have observed a deliberate shift by drug trafficking organisations away from the seaports, where scrutiny has intensified, towards courier and logistics companies, which they have wrongly assumed to be a softer, less monitored channel for moving narcotics across international borders.
The dismantling of this cartel, from the interception of the consignment at a courier logistics channel right through to the arrest of its Nigerian arrowhead, is a clear demonstration that this Agency has both the capacity and the capability to fish out traffickers wherever they choose to hide, whether in their mansions, forests, enclaves, ports, or behind the counters of courier companies. Let it be understood: there is no alternative route into or out of Nigeria for illicit drugs that this Agency cannot police”, he stated
The NDLEA chief described the case as a proud moment for international cooperation, noting the near-simultaneous arrests of cartel members in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, and commended the Agency’s international partners as well as the Special Investigation Team, under the coordination of the Director of Operations and General Investigation, for their diligence and professionalism in unravelling the syndicate.
“To those who believe they can hide behind luxury brands, glamorous lifestyles, and social media personas while trafficking poison into our communities and across our borders, this Agency will find you. It does not matter how well-connected, how wealthy, or how far you attempt to run. As this case demonstrates, we will track you to the departure gate if we must,” Marwa said
He reassured Nigerians of the Agency’s continued commitment to protecting the country’s youth and communities, and to ensuring that Nigeria is not used as a conduit for trafficking narcotics to any part of the world
He emphasized that the operation demonstrates the agency’s expanding capacity to monitor and intercept illicit drug traffic across courier channels, air transport, and luxury estates.
