Monday, March 3, 2025 - After 17 years of hiding in the dark to ship illicit drugs worth billions of naira across the world, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a wanted 59-year-old drug baron identified as Ogbonnaya Kevin Jeff at his hideout in Ojo area of Lagos.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa
(Rtd) who disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday March 3rd,
detailed how operatives of its Special Operations Unit had been on the trail of
Ogbonnaya following an Interpol red notice against him and information from the
National Intelligence Service of South Korea.
According to Marwa;
“The major development that warranted this special briefing pertains to
the arrest of a drug lord who’s wanted across the world as the leader of an
international drug trafficking organisation.
On Wednesday, 12th February 2025, we achieved that objective in the
successful arrest of Ogbonnaya Kevin Jeff, a 59-year-old drug baron. The
suspect was arrested at his hideout at No. 3, Ibukunoluwa Taiwo Close, off LASU
Road, Lagos. He has been under NDLEA investigation before his arrest. As a
result, we have comprehensive intelligence on his activities, and
incontrovertible facts that he is a notorious drug lord who recruited young
Nigerians as couriers to smuggle illicit substances into the Republic of Korea
(South Korea).
Our records reveal that many Nigerians apprehended outside the country
for drug-related offences were linked to him. Furthermore, we have established
that he laundered drug proceeds through the importation of electronics and
other goods. Following his arrest, a search of his residence led to the
recovery of multiple Nigerian international passports belonging to different
individuals, many of which contained Korean visas. Additionally, we recovered
some illicit substances in a storehouse at the back of his house.”
While unmasking the suspect’s leadership role in the drug underworld,
the NDLEA boss said
“Ogbonnaya Kevin Jeff is not a typical domestic drug baron; he is an
international trafficker operating both from Nigeria and abroad. His dossier
indicates that he served a one-year prison sentence in the Republic of Korea in
2007 and was deported to Nigeria in 2008. Despite this, he continued his
illicit trade, remaining actively involved in drug trafficking operations to
the Far East.
Presently, he is wanted in the Republic of Korea for multiple drug
trafficking offences in collaboration with his accomplices. An INTERPOL Red
Notice was issued for his arrest and extradition to the country for offences
committed between 2023 and 2024. From a series of interdictions, it has been
established that Ogbonnaya Kevin Jeff is the ringleader of a drug trafficking
organisation responsible for smuggling narcotics into the People’s Republic of
Korea. He has been orchestrating operations remotely by giving instructions to
drug mules and domestic suppliers who are members of his syndicate spread
across Cameroon, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Liberia and other East and Southern
African countries.”
He further gave insights into what investigations had unearthed about
Ogbonnaya’s illicit trade activities.
“On 5th October 2023, at a location in Burkina Faso, the suspect
dispatched 6,051.06 grams of skunk, concealed in dried chillies and jujube, to
a Korean, Kim Dong Wook at a designated address in Jinju City,
Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. The package arrived at Incheon Airport on 19th
October 2023 at 07:20 am via Air France.
Investigation reveals that while residing in Nigeria, he directed his
drug couriers, Santa Elizabeth Pieterse and Carl Yohan Stephan Brisman, to
smuggle a total of five kilograms of methamphetamine into South Korea via
overseas flights, between December 2023 and April 2024. In recent times alone,
he has sent illicit drugs worth over N1.4 billion in street value to South
Korea.
Ogbonnoya maintains another domestic carrier, identified as
"Asa", who delivers for him drug consignments to a warehouse operated
by Okori Emmanuel, a Nigerian who is his supply manager in South Korea. As of
now, two arrest warrants have been issued against Ogbonnaya by the Seoul
Central District Court in January and June 2024. These warrants charge him with
importing narcotic drugs in violation of Article 3-7 of South Korea’s Narcotics
Control Act, an offence punishable by a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.”
Marwa assured of NDLEA’s commitment to ensuring that Nigeria does not
serve as a base for international drug trafficking operations. “We will
continue our relentless fight against illicit drug networks and their
financiers, in line with our mandate to safeguard public health and national
security.
‘’The arrest of Ogbonnaya is therefore an affirmation of our resolve to
work with our international partners to ensure no drug baron finds Nigeria a
comfort zone to distribute illicit substances within the country or traffic
them to other countries.”
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