NDLEA arrests influencer over $28m cocaine shipment bound for UK
…Agency seizes 184.5kg cocaine, arrests two suspects in Lagos
A Nigerian social media influencer, Afolabi Kazeem Micheal, popularly known as “KC Luxury”, has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over his alleged links to an international cocaine trafficking network.
The arrest according to BBC, followed the seizure of 184.5 kilogrammes of cocaine worth nearly $28 million, allegedly destined for the United Kingdom.
Micheal, 49, who has about 700,000 followers on Instagram, was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, on August 13, 2026, while attempting to board a business-class flight to Paris, France, according to the NDLEA.
The agency alleged that Micheal was the Nigerian “arrowhead” of a transnational drug trafficking organisation that moved cocaine from South America through Nigeria to destinations in Europe and Asia.
The NDLEA said the cocaine was intercepted on August 3 at a courier facility in Lagos, where it had been concealed in brown boxes for export.
According to the agency, the consignment was linked to an international trafficking network that had allegedly used Nigeria as a transit hub for years.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), said the agency moved to arrest Micheal after receiving credible intelligence that he was planning to leave the country.
“Upon credible intelligence that he intended to flee the country, our operatives moved decisively and apprehended him at the boarding gate, just as he attempted to escape the reach of the law,” Marwa said.
The agency said Micheal was found in possession of more than $12,840 in three currencies — euros, pounds sterling and naira — as well as expensive jewellery which it said was allegedly consistent with proceeds of illicit activities.
Micheal reportedly presents himself on social media as a businessman involved in gold and luxury goods.
The NDLEA, however, said investigations had linked him to the cocaine shipment and the wider trafficking network.
Another suspect, 33-year-old Lawal Mujab Kehinde, was also arrested in connection with the case.
Kehinde was alleged to be a staff member of a logistics company through which the cocaine was transported. The agency said he was responsible for packaging the cocaine for export and was paid in cash.
The NDLEA said investigations were ongoing and that other suspected members of the network had also been arrested by law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom and other countries.
The agency said the development underscored the importance of international cooperation in combating transnational drug trafficking.
Marwa vowed that the agency would continue to pursue other members of the alleged network, warning suspected traffickers that they would not escape arrest by attempting to leave the country.
“We will track you to the departure gates if we must,” he said at a news conference in Lagos.
Micheal and Kehinde have not publicly commented on the allegations, and the allegations against them have not been tested in court.
Culled from BBC
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