A Nigerian Multi-million Pound Drug Smuggler has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in the UK. The man who is alleged to be guilty of smuggling hundreds of millions of pounds worth of drugs into the UK was jailed for 30 years on Friday 2 March, after an investigation by officers of the UKBA.
Forty-eight years old Adegboyega Adeniji, living at 48 Sandmere Close in Hemel Hempstead was stopped for control by the UKBA officers at Heathrow after flying in on a flight from Amsterdam Schiphol on 4 April 2011.
Examinations of his 2 suitcases uncovered the huge quantity of drugs that was stacked in them. They content was 31 kg of cocaine, 5 kg of heroin and 2 kg of methamphetamine. The haul had a total street value of over £4million.
When the UKBA investigators examined a flat Adeniji rented in Regent’s Plaza, Kilburn, another 23 suitcases, many of which tested positive for traces of drugs were discovered.
They also established the proof that he had previously done the same journey to Amsterdam on numerous occasions. He usually travels under the guise of a businessman supplying heavy machinery to the oil business in Nigeria.
According to Jim Jarvie, the deputy director of criminal and financial investigation team to the UK Border Agency,
‘Adeniji was clearly a significant figure at the centre of an extensive criminal network. He was involved in the importation and distribution of the class A drugs on a grand scale.
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‘Although the true amount of drugs he smuggled into the UK will never be known, it is probably safe to assume he has been responsible for the importation of tens – if not hundreds – of millions of pounds worth.’
Adeniji’s flat in Kilburn was the heart of his criminal business. It was the place where he and possibly others who worked with him, had stored the drugs they sneaked into the UK.
In addition to the abandoned suitcases, the UKBA detectives also found scales, a money counting machine, extra packages of drugs and about £2,000 cash.
Examination of his mobile phone revealed he had steady contacts with associates in Amsterdam. Some of the texts messages he sent read like shopping lists of illegal drugs and prices.
Adeniji would generally use a room in a nearby hotel in Maida Vale or a rented apartment to carry out his drugs transactions. Text messages were found inviting others to the hotel, and these corresponded with his style of travel to Amsterdam. Most of the names in the texts matched names found on the packages of drugs he was arrested with at Heathrow.
When his bank account was controlled, unidentified cash deposits of approximately £1m was found to have been paid in.
Ever since Adeniji’s has been arrested, assets of about £500,000 and £1,000,000 have been frozen by the UKBA investigators. They will now be the subject of Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation proceedings.
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Adeniji acknowledged importation charges. On the other hand, he denied conspiring to import class A drugs. A jury at Isleworth Crown Court unanimously found him guilty. On that same day, he was sentenced to 30 a years imprisonment.
Source: UKBA.