Alhaji Ademola Afolabi Kazeem (also known as Alhaji Abdallah Kazeem Muhammed), a socialite from Lagos and owner of the Adekaz Hotels, has been declared wanted by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for offenses involving the exportation and trafficking of illegal drugs as well as money laundering.
According to a statement released on Tuesday by the NDLEA’s Director of Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the suspect’s failure to honor invitations and an order issued to the Agency by a Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday, October 17, 2022, led to the decision to declare him wanted.
The wanted drug kingpin was revealed as the sponsor of some traffickers who were apprehended by the anti-narcotics agency in their recent attempt to export cocaine to Dubai, UAE, and other locations outside of Nigeria, according to the statement.
“Alhaji Ademola Kazeem, who is also the Chairman of Adekaz Global Integrated Services, went into hiding shortly after one of his mules, Bolujoko Muyiwa Babalola, a Lagos BRT driver, was apprehended on June 27 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja.
Following his refusal to accept invitations, the Agency petitioned a Federal High Court in Lagos with three requests, all of which were granted: to attach and seal his identified properties in Lagos and Ibadan; to declare him wanted; and to block his bank account, which had a cash balance of N217,000,000.00.
“As a result, NDLEA agents sealed six of the identified properties on Lagos Island on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. On Lagos Island, they are located at 105 Tokunbo Street off Broad Street, 1 Abibu Oki Street off Marina, 3 Abibu Oki Street off Marina, 54 Palm Church Street, 26 Agarawu Street, and 41 Foresythe Street. The other one is in Ibadan, Oyo state, at 1 Irepodun Zone, Adepoju Bus Stop, Ajoda Ayedun.
In a related development, the Agency detained Udemezue Obunike William, another drug lord, on Friday, October 28 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja as he was flying back from Brazil.
His arrest came after some drug couriers linked to Udemezue as their sponsor were earlier apprehended with the help of the Nigeria Immigration Service. Messrs. Adolphus Anayochukwu Okeke and Anayo Michael Nnanna are two of the mules.
Okeke Adolphus Anayochukwu, a 52-year-old father of four who claimed to be a businessman, was detained by NDLEA agents at the Abuja airport on March 15 after arriving on a Qatar Airways flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Doha, Qatar, to Abuja. He was carrying 20.75 kilograms of black liquid cocaine.
Upon searching his luggage, which contained six smaller bags each containing 32 makeup bags of mascara that tested positive for cocaine, the liquid was found.
Nnanna Anayo Michael, a 39-year-old Brazilian returning to the country, was also detained on Tuesday, March 29, at the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), during the inbound passenger screening for Qatar Airline Flight QR1433 from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Doha to Port Harcourt. The largest cocaine seizure at the airport since it started operating international flights years ago occurred when Nnanna was apprehended with 73 sachets weighing 8.15 kilograms of cocaine.
Further inquiries into the two traffickers identified Udemezue Obunike William as the cocaine cartel’s drug lord. As a result, he was placed on a watch list and taken into custody upon his arrival from Brazil on Friday, October 28.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), CON, OFR, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, expressed his reaction by praising the agency’s officers and employees who participated in the clinical investigation that resulted in the identification of the two barons. He warned that the days of drug lords hiding behind traffickers and remaining anonymous are over and that the new NDLEA will continue to expose them one by one if they do not give up their involvement in the illegal business.