The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled an international cocaine trafficking cartel that allegedly used Nigeria as a transit hub for the shipment of illicit drugs to the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia.
The agency also arrested the Nigerian arrowhead of the syndicate, identified as Afolabi Kazeem Michael, popularly known as “KC Luxury”, as he attempted to flee the country.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), disclosed the development on Tuesday in Lagos, describing the operation as one of the agency’s most significant recent narcotics investigations.
The operation followed the interception of 184.50 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in a consignment processed through a courier logistics company in Lagos. NDLEA said the seizure was the largest cocaine haul intercepted through a courier company in Nigeria, with the cartel allegedly targeting proceeds of about ₦39 billion from the shipment through its international distribution network.
Following the seizure, Marwa ordered the constitution of a Special Investigation Team to trace the entire network behind the consignment, from couriers and facilitators to the masterminds.
Working with the management of the courier company, NDLEA operatives uncovered a network of intermediary companies and individuals allegedly used to process and dispatch the cocaine, leading to the arrest of key suspects.
One of those arrested was Lawal Mujab Kehinde, a staff member of the logistics company through which the shipment was processed. Investigators reportedly established that he maintained a direct relationship with the cartel’s Nigerian coordinator and regularly packaged and processed consignments for the syndicate.
The agency said Kehinde routed the consignments to the UK, other European destinations and Asia, receiving cash payments for his role.
The second and more prominent suspect, Afolabi, allegedly operated under the public persona of a social media influencer and luxury goods dealer specialising in gold, jewellery and other high-value items.
NDLEA said investigations revealed that he was, in fact, the Nigerian coordinator of a cocaine trafficking pipeline stretching from South America through Nigeria to the UK, Europe and Asia.
Marwa said Afolabi was arrested on the night of August 13, 2026, at the boarding gate of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, after intelligence indicated that he planned to escape the country on a business-class flight to Paris.
According to the NDLEA chairman, operatives found €7,750, £2,800 and ₦100,000 in cash on the suspect, alongside expensive jewellery allegedly linked to the proceeds of his illicit activities.
A subsequent search of his luxury apartment on Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, also led to the recovery of exotic vehicles.
Marwa said investigations further revealed that the cartel employed false identities to conceal the actual consignors of drug shipments and relied on financial facilitators who allegedly moved billions of naira on its behalf.
He added that the syndicate maintained active criminal links in the United Kingdom, with some members already arrested by British authorities in connection with the same network.
The operation, he said, formed part of a wider campaign against transnational drug trafficking organisations, including the recent dismantling of the Switzerland-based Simon Amadi drug cartel, which allegedly laundered millions of dollars through dark-web marketplaces.
The NDLEA also recently dismantled two Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine syndicates operating clandestine laboratories in forests in Ogun and Oyo states.
Marwa said the latest operation demonstrated the agency’s ability to penetrate drug networks irrespective of the environment in which they operate.
He noted that trafficking organisations were increasingly shifting from seaports and airports to courier and logistics companies, believing the latter offered less scrutiny.
“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,” Marwa said.
He warned that the agency would continue to pursue drug traffickers operating behind luxury lifestyles, businesses and social media identities.
“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,” he said.
Marwa described the operation as a major achievement in international law-enforcement cooperation, particularly with the near-simultaneous arrests of members of the syndicate in Nigeria and the UK.
He commended NDLEA’s international partners and members of the Special Investigation Team, coordinated by the Director of Operations and General Investigation, for their diligence and professionalism in dismantling the network.
He assured Nigerians that the agency would sustain its efforts to prevent the country from being used as a transit route for narcotics destined for other parts of the world and to protect young people and communities from the devastating consequences of drug trafficking.
