Abba Kyari, Six Others Back In Court Over Drug Trafficking Case
Abba Kyari, a suspended police officer, and six others have been summoned to court to face drug trafficking charges brought by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Mr Abba Kyari, who is also wanted in the United States for his ties with convicted fraudster Ramon ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas, was charged with eight charges of hard drug trafficking by the NDLEA.
Assistant Commissioner of Police ACP Sunday Ubua, Assistant Superintendent of Police ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirigba, Inspector John Nuhu, Chibuinna Patrick Umeibe, and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne are among those arrested alongside Mr Kyari.
Mr. Kyari was a former Deputy Commissioner of Police prior to his suspension.
Earlier this year, the once-famous detective pled not guilty to the allegations leveled against him, while two of his co-defendants pleaded guilty to portions of the drug trafficking counts leveled against them.
At the Federal High Court in Abuja, the defendants, Chibuinna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne, entered their pleas.
Both individuals were ordered to be held in the custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) until their bail application was heard. They were the only civilians charged in connection with Kyari’s cocaine case.
The NDLEA was able to apprehend a suspected billionaire drug baron linked to the N3 billion Tramadol deal involving the disgruntled officer who was the chief of Nigeria’s Intelligence Response Team as investigations escalated (IRT).
The millionaire “was eventually captured onboard a flight to Abuja at the MM2 terminal of the Lagos airport, Ikeja on Wednesday 13th April,” according to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi.
“Investigations suggest that he’s been a big importer of large consignments of various brands and high dosages of Tramadol Hydrochloride, ranging from 120mg, 200mg, 225mg, and 250mg, all of which are prohibited,” he added.
“On top of that, he manages 103 bank accounts, the majority of which are used to launder money.”
According to Mr Babafemi, the suspect was placed under surveillance last year after five cartons of Tramadol 225mg were recovered from his employees on 4 May 2021, when he directed them to sell to undercover police operatives (unknown to Ukatu) from the then Kyari-led IRT of the Nigerian Police, Ikeja Lagos.
The price of a carton of Tramadol was negotiated at N17 million each, compared to the black market value of N18 million to N20 million each carton in Lagos at the time, according to the NDLEA spokesman.
He said that after the arrest of one of his employees, the suspects led Kyari’s men to his warehouse, where the IRT Team seized 197 more Cartons of Tramadol 225mg.
The 202 boxes of Tramadol recovered from him in a single day were worth over N3 billion.
According to him, three weeks after the seizure, the Kyari’s IRT squad only sent 12 cartons of Tramadol to the NDLEA’s Lagos Command with one truck and a suspect, leaving 190 cartons unaccounted for.
