NDLEA Declares Couple Wanted, Arrests 4 Over Cocaine Seizures

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has declared a couple, Kazeem Omogoriola Owoalade (alias Abdul Qassim Adisa Balogun) and Rashidat Ayinke Owoalade (alias Bolarinwa Rashidat Ayinke), wanted after four members of the syndicate were arrested in Lagos.

A sports utility vehicle was recovered, and two properties previously linked to the syndicate were sealed and forfeited to the federal government.

According to a statement released by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi on Sunday, May 19, two members of the syndicate, Imran Taofeek Olalekan and Ishola Isiaka Olalekan, were arrested on April 3, 2024, after attempting to export 3.40kg cocaine on a Qatar Airlines flight bound for Oman via Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos.

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‘’While Imran was the courier conveying the drug consignment to Oman, Ishola recruited him for the head of the cartel, which investigation has now revealed to be Alhaji Kazeem Omogoriola Owoalade whose Indian residence permit bears Abdul Qassim Adisa Balogun based in India. Efforts to dismantle his network in Nigeria paid off after five weeks of surveillance and follow up operations when another member of the syndicate, Hamed Abimbola Saheed who works directly with the baron was arrested on Tuesday 14th May at Abule Egba area of Lagos. It was indeed Saheed who lodged Imran in a hotel a day before his aborted trip to Oman and equally dropped him and Ishola at the Lagos airport the day they were arrested.

“During a search of Hamed house, NDLEA operatives recovered some phenacetine, a cutting agent for Cocaine, weighing 900 grams. He confessed that the recovered substance was what was left of the consignment Imran was taking to Oman the day he was arrested.”

Babafemi stated that Hamed’s arrest prompted a follow-up operation at the Owoalade couple’s home at 20 Eyiaro Street, Ogudu Orioke, Lagos, where another suspect was apprehended and a new model Toyota RAV4 SUV marked FKJ-773 JJ belonging to Rashidat, as well as an additional 400 grammes of cocaine, were recovered, in addition to already prepared suitcases for illicit drug concealment, digital weighing scales, and other paraphernalia.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli