By Adedapo Adesanya
A popular hotelier and socialite in Lagos, Mr Ademola Afolabi Kazeem, who is also known as Adekaz or Abdallah Kazeem Muhammed, has been apprehended by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The suspect, who owns Adekaz Hotels, was arrested over offences bordering on exportation and trafficking of illicit drugs.
His arrest came 10 days after he was declared wanted by the agency on Tuesday, November 1, following his failure to honour NDLEA invitations and an order granted by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
The wanted suspect was uncovered as the sponsor of some traffickers arrested by the anti-narcotics agency in their recent attempt to export cocaine to Dubai, UAE and other destinations outside Nigeria.
According to a statement by NDLEA spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi, the search for Adekaz paid off on Thursday, November 10, when he was successfully taken into custody and is being interviewed.
His lid was blown open after the arrest of one of his mules, Mr Bolujoko Muyiwa Babalola, a Lagos BRT driver, on June 27 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, when he named him as the owner of the 900 grams of cocaine he ingested.
Following Adekaz’s failure to honour invitations sent to him, the agency approached a Federal High Court in Lagos with three prayers: to attach and seal his identified properties in choice areas of Lagos island and Ibadan; declare him wanted and block his bank account with a cash balance of N217 million, all of which were granted.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives also arrested a businesswoman, Mrs Okefun Darlington Chisom, over her links with two Pakistanis: Mr Asif Muhammed, 45 and Mr Hussain Naveed, 57, arrested at the Lagos airport with 8 kilograms of cocaine concealed in a sound system while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Lahole, Pakistan via Doha on Saturday, November 5.
Meanwhile, an automobile parts dealer, Mr Omeje Oliver (a.k.a David Mark), who was arrested on Monday, October 31, in Enugu, where he fled after abandoning his business at Aspanda, Trade Fair Complex Lagos on April 16, in connection with the seizure of 600 grams of heroin concealed inside soles of lady’s footwears going to Liberia, has been linked to another drug seizure.
A further look at the organisation’s database revealed that Mr Omeje was also involved in a case of 1.580kg Methamphetamine seized from one Victor Nwobodo Friday, who was arrested at the MMIA during his aborted trip to Jakarta, Indonesia, on February 6, 2018. Charges have been filed against the suspect at the Federal High Court Lagos in respect of the old seizure and the recent one.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives attached to the SAHCO import shed of the MMIA Lagos have intercepted another consignment of Tramadol from Karachi, Pakistan.
A total of 6 cartons comprising 497,900 tablets of Royal Tramaking brand of Tramadol 225mg with a gross weight of 304.90 kilograms were recovered after a joint examination by stakeholders on Friday, November 11.
In a similar development, operatives in Ogun State, in the early hours of Saturday, November 12, raided a warehouse in the Ogere area of Ikene LGA where they seized 273 jumbo bags of cannabis sativa weighing 3,533 kilograms (3.533tons) from a couple, Mr and Mrs Jesutofunmi Solomon.
This came on the heels of the seizure of 176kgs of C/S at Ogere trailer park on Wednesday, November 9 and the destruction of 15 hectares of cannabis plantation in the Gbamgbam area of the state.
In the same vein, operatives in Osun state have raided a cannabis plantation at Obada sawmill, Owena Ijesa in Oriade LGA where they destroyed 1.2hectares, recovered 2,823kgs of processed C/S and arrested 13 suspects on Sunday, 6th November.
In Ondo, operatives seized 78kgs of cannabis from a dealer, Beauty Godwin, at Ofosu along Benin-Ore express road and another 264kgs from Abdul Rasheed Mohammed, and Abdul Rasheed Haruna at Sanusi camp 2 in Owo, while in Rivers state, anti-narcotics officers of the Agency arrested Damion Onuoha during a raid at Elele Alimini community, Emuoha LGA, where he was found with 1.6kgs of Methamphetamine as well as monetary exhibit amounting to N650,700.
A joint operation with the military at Habour road, Port Harcourt City also led to the arrest of Sandra David and the seizure of different quantities of cocaine and heroin as well as N2.1 million cash exhibit from her home.
In Edo state, operatives located and destroyed 10 clusters of cannabis sativa farms measuring 14 hectares at Igwalor forest, Uhunmwonde LGA where five bags of processed C/S weighing 47.7kgs were recovered, while a raid at Obadan village, in the same LGA also led to the recovery 11 bags of cannabis sativa seeds weighing 399kgs and 34 bags of processed substance weighing 431kgs, bringing the total weight to 830kgs. Two suspects: Enododia Sunday and Osayaba Paul, were arrested at the scene.
Modupe Gbadeyanka