Court Orders NDLEA To Produce KC Luxury After 14 Days Detention

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to produce socialite and businessman Afolabi Kazeem Micheal, popularly known as ‘KC Luxury’, before the court after he spent 14 days in custody without being formally charged and arraigned.

The order followed an ex parte application filed by Afolabi through his counsel, A. Labi-Lawal, SAN, under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009.

Afolabi was arrested by NDLEA operatives on August 13 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while preparing to travel to Paris.

The development comes days after the anti-narcotics agency announced the dismantling of an international cocaine trafficking cartel allegedly using Nigeria as a transit hub for distributing illicit drugs to the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), disclosed the operation while briefing journalists recently in Lagos, saying the agency seized 184.50kg of cocaine in the operation.

According to Marwa, the seizure represented the largest quantity of cocaine intercepted by the agency from a courier company in Nigeria. He said the consignment was intercepted while being processed for onward export through a courier logistics channel in Lagos.

The cartel was reportedly hoping to make as much as N39bn from the consignment through its international distribution network.

Following the seizure, Marwa ordered a special investigation to uncover the network behind the shipment. The probe resulted in the arrest of two key suspects and several other associates.

One of the suspects, Lawal Kehinde, a staff member of the logistics company allegedly used to process the cocaine, was accused of packaging and processing consignments for the syndicate and routing them to the UK, other parts of Europe and Asia.

The agency said Kehinde maintained a relationship with the cartel’s Nigerian coordinator and was paid in cash for his role.

The second suspect, Afolabi Michael, was identified by the NDLEA as the alleged Nigerian arrowhead of the cartel.

The agency alleged that Afolabi portrayed himself publicly as a social media influencer and businessman involved in gold, jewellery and luxury goods, while using the image to conceal his alleged involvement in international cocaine trafficking.

Marwa said Afolabi was arrested at the boarding gate of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport after intelligence indicated that he planned to leave Nigeria on a business-class flight to Paris.

According to the NDLEA, he was found in possession of €7,750, £2,800 and N100,000 in cash, as well as expensive jewellery.
The agency also said a subsequent search of his luxury apartment on Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, led to the recovery of exotic vehicles.

The latest court order now requires the NDLEA to produce Afolabi before the court following the failure to formally charge and arraign him within 14 days of his detention.