Fleeing celebrity drug kingpin arrested over N379b cocaine, others

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled an international cocaine trafficking cartel that used Nigeria as a transit hub for moving illicit drugs to the United Kingdom, other parts of Europe and Asia, arresting its Nigerian arrowhead, a self-styled luxury goods dealer and social media influencer, as he attempted to flee the country.

This was contained in a statement signed and issued in Abuja on Tuesday by Director, Media and Advocacy NDLEA, Femi Babafemi.

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), disclosed this while addressing journalists in Lagos describing the operation as one of the most significant narcotics investigations undertaken by the agency in recent times, leading to the seizure of the largest cocaine seizure in a courier company in Nigeria.

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.

Due to 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, from the couriers to the masterminds.

He disclosed that the cartel was hoping to realise as much as N39 billion from the consignment through their international distribution network.

Working closely with the management of the courier company involved, NDLEA operatives unravelled a web of intermediary companies and individuals used to process the consignment, leading to the arrest of two key suspects, among several others.

The first, Lawal Mujab Kehinde, a staff member of the logistics firm through which the cocaine was processed, was found to have a direct and sustained relationship with the cartel’s Nigerian coordinator.

According to the statement, investigation also established that he packages and processes consignments for the syndicate, routes them to the United Kingdom, other parts of Europe and, Asia, while he was paid in cash.

“The second and more prominent suspect is Afolabi Kazeem Michael, popularly known online as “KC Luxury,” whom investigations identified as the Nigerian arrowhead of the cartel.

“Parading as a social media influencer and businessman dealing in gold, jewellery, and luxury goods, Afolabi used his glamorous public image to disguise a criminal enterprise moving cocaine along a pipeline stretching from South America, through Nigeria, to the United Kingdom, other parts of Europe and Asia,” it added.

According to the NDLEA boss, “this cartel leader did not walk into our custody voluntarily. On the night of 13th August 2026, upon credible intelligence that he intended to flee the country on a business-class flight to Paris, our operatives moved decisively and apprehended him at the boarding gate of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, just as he attempted to escape the reach of the law.

He was found in possession of foreign currencies: €7,750 (Seven Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty Euros); £2,800 (Two Thousand, Eight Hundred Pounds Sterling) and N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) cash, and expensive jewelry, consistent with the proceeds of his illicit trade.”