A suspected kingpin of a Nigeria-based international drug cartel has been arrested in Lagos for allegedly smuggling illicit drugs into South Korea for the past five years.
According to Korea Times, the Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) confirmed that the 59-year-old suspect, identified as K. Jeff, was detained on February 13.
His arrest followed years of collaborative efforts between the NIS and Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Authorities also revealed that 36 other members of the cartel were apprehended during the coordinated operation, dealing a significant blow to the transnational drug network.
In 2021, authorities reportedly located some cartel members based in Korea who were attempting to smuggle drugs from Ghana.
The suspects then shared key information about the cartel with Nigerian authorities and a team was dispatched to Nigeria to help find the headquarters.
Jeff was said to have been operating a drug trafficking network spanning five continents and tricking people, including Koreans, into transporting meth and other stimulant drugs.
He was convicted in Korea in 2007 for playing a major role in smuggling drugs and sentenced to 12 months in prison. He was then deported to Nigeria the following year.
The suspect “expanded his international network to Asia, Europe, Africa as well as the Americas”, where he and his cartel members cultivate, manufacture and sell illicit drugs.
They reportedly used romance scams to deceive people into smuggling illicit substances across borders.
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