FBI, Columbian police arrest Nigerian ‘linked to large-scale drug trafficking’

Colombian authorities, in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), have arrested a suspected Nigerian transnational drug trafficker at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital.

The suspect was identified as Joseph Okparaejesi, alias Alen, in a report on Thursday.

Citing intelligence sources, Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, reported that Okparaejesi had resided in Colombia for over 12 years.

Okparaejesi was apprehended upon arrival from São Paulo, Brazil, following an intensive investigation led by the Colombian police intelligence unit and the attorney general’s office.

“The suspect posed as a businessman in the beauty industry but was allegedly coordinating large-scale cocaine shipments to Spain,” the report reads.

Authorities revealed that Okparaejesi allegedly financed drug procurement and oversaw operations involving human couriers and specially designed double-bottom suitcases to smuggle narcotics.

“His arrest was facilitated by intelligence from a detained drug mule en route to Spain, who disclosed details of the Nigerian’s network,” the report added.

“As a result of this breakthrough, 15 other individuals linked to his operations have also been arrested.

“Investigations indicate that Okparaejesi married a Colombian woman in 2012 at the Nuestra Señora de Fátima parish in Bogotá. He reportedly ran a business dealing in hair extensions, named ‘Nigeria African’, located near Ciudad de Cali Avenue.”

Okparaejesi reportedly rarely left Colombia, traveling to Africa approximately every two years to visit his family.

Charges of drug trafficking, production, and distribution have been filed against him.