The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled an international cocaine trafficking syndicate allegedly using Nigeria as a transit point for shipping illicit drugs to the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia.
The operation resulted in the seizure of 184.50kg of cocaine, described by the agency as the largest quantity of cocaine ever intercepted through a courier company in Nigeria.
The alleged Nigerian coordinator of the cartel, Afolabi Kazeem Michael, popularly known as “KC Luxury,” was also arrested while attempting to leave the country.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), disclosed the development while addressing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday.
According to Marwa, the investigation began after operatives intercepted the cocaine consignment concealed for export through a courier logistics channel in Lagos.
He subsequently ordered the establishment of a Special Investigation Team to trace the shipment to its couriers, intermediaries and alleged masterminds.
Marwa said the cartel expected to make as much as N39 billion from the consignment through its international distribution network.
Working with the management of the courier company involved, NDLEA operatives uncovered a network of companies and individuals allegedly used to process and move the cocaine.
The investigation led to the arrest of two key suspects, including Lawal Mujab Kehinde, an employee of the logistics company through which the consignment was processed.
Marwa said Kehinde had maintained a direct relationship with the cartel’s Nigerian coordinator and allegedly packaged and processed consignments for the syndicate before routing them to the UK, other European countries and Asia.
He was allegedly paid in cash for his services.
The second suspect, Afolabi, was identified by the agency as the alleged Nigerian arrowhead of the syndicate.
According to Marwa, Afolabi presented himself publicly as a social media influencer and businessman dealing in gold, jewellery and other luxury goods, allegedly using his glamorous lifestyle to conceal his involvement in an international cocaine trafficking operation.
The NDLEA boss said Afolabi was arrested at the boarding gate of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on August 13, 2026, after intelligence indicated that he intended to flee Nigeria on a business-class flight to Paris.
At the time of his arrest, the suspect was allegedly carrying €7,750, £2,800 and N100,000 in cash, alongside expensive jewellery.
A subsequent search of his luxury apartment on Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, also led to the recovery of exotic vehicles, the agency said.
Marwa said further investigations revealed that the syndicate used false identities to conceal the real consignors of drug shipments and relied on financial facilitators who allegedly moved billions of naira on its behalf.
He added that the cartel had criminal associates in the UK, some of whom had reportedly been arrested by British authorities in connection with the same network.
The operation, according to Marwa, forms part of the agency’s recent efforts to dismantle transnational drug trafficking organisations.
He cited the dismantling of the Switzerland-based Simon Amadi drug cartel, which allegedly laundered millions of dollars through dark web marketplaces, as well as the disruption of two Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine syndicates operating clandestine laboratories in forests in Ogun and Oyo states.
Marwa said the latest operation demonstrated that traffickers could no longer rely on luxury lifestyles, courier companies, forests or other locations to evade detection.
He noted that drug trafficking organisations had increasingly shifted from seaports and airports, where security scrutiny had intensified, to courier and logistics companies, which they allegedly regarded as less monitored channels for international drug shipments.
The NDLEA chairman also attributed the success of the operation to international cooperation, noting that suspected members of the syndicate were arrested in Nigeria and the UK around the same period.
He commended the agency’s international partners and members of the Special Investigation Team, coordinated by the Director of Operations and General Investigation, for their role in uncovering the network.
Marwa warned individuals who use luxury brands, social media influence and extravagant lifestyles to disguise drug trafficking activities that the NDLEA would continue to pursue them.
He said the agency’s ability to trace the syndicate from the initial cocaine seizure to the alleged Nigerian coordinator showed that there was no safe route for drug traffickers operating in or through Nigeria.
