The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled an international cocaine-trafficking cartel that used Nigeria as a transit hub to move 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.

In a statement, the Director, Media and Advocacy (NDLEA), Femi Babafemi, said the agency’s Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), disclosed this while addressing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, August 18, 2026.

He described the operation as one of the most significant narcotics investigations undertaken by the agency in recent times, leading to the seizure of the largest quantity of cocaine intercepted through 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.

Given the scale of the seizure, he immediately directed the constitution of a Special Investigation Team, mandated to trace the entire network behind the shipment, from the couriers to the masterminds. The cartel was hoping to realise as much as N39 billion from the consignment through its international distribution network.

Working closely with the courier company’s management, 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. Investigation also established that he packaged and processed consignments for the syndicate, routing 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.

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 ₦100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) cash, and expensive jewellery, consistent with the proceeds of his illicit trade.”

A subsequent search of his luxury apartment on Banana Island, Ikoyi, led to the recovery of exotic vehicles.

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Marwa said investigations showed the cartel used false identities to conceal the true consignor of its shipments, relied on financial facilitators who moved billions of naira on its behalf, and maintained active criminal contacts in the United Kingdom, some of whom British authorities have since arrested in connection with the same syndicate.

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 dark web marketplaces, 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. (The Nation)

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