TRIBUNE
FOUR drug kingpins arrested in connection with the seizure of 2,139.55 kilogrammes of cocaine at an Ikorodu residential estate in 2022 have been convicted by a Federal High Court, Lagos, presided over by Justice Yellim Bogoro, who sentenced them to various jail terms totaling 28 years with hard labour.
The convicts, Soji Jubril Oke (71), Wasiu Akinade (55), Emmanuel Arinze Chukwu (67) and Kelvin Christopher Smith (44), a Jamaican, were charged with six counts in charge number: FHC/L/607C/2022 in October and December 2022, while the trial of the fifth suspect, Oguntolure Sunday, arraigned along with them, is still ongoing in court.
The charges border on conspiracy to form and operate a drug trafficking organization (DTO); management and financing of a DTO; importation and possession of 2,139.55 kilograms of cocaine, among others.
Operatives of a special operations unit of NDLEA had in a well-coordinated and intelligence-led operation on Sunday, September 18, 2022 raided a house located at Number 6, Olukuola crescent, Solebo Estate, Ikorodu, Lagos where the over 2.1 tonnes of cocaine were seized, the largest singular cocaine seizure in the history of Nigeria’s anti-narcotic operations.
The drug kingpins were picked from hotels and their hideouts in different parts of Lagos between the night of Sunday 18th and Monday 19th September, 2022.
READ THE FULL STORY IN TRIBUNE
Connect with us on our socials: