A man and a woman have been charged with international drug trafficking offences following a joint investigation involving authorities in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
Oladipupo Atandare, 50, of Dagenham, and Latifat Yusuf, 44, of Hornchurch were arrested after more than 180kg of cocaine was seized in the UK on August 5.
The pair appeared before Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on August 8 and were remanded in custody. They are due to appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court on September 7.
The Metropolitan Police said the charges relate specifically to the cocaine recovered in the UK, while inquiries are continuing into a separate seizure of a similar quantity of the drug in Nigeria.
Nigerian authorities said on Tuesday that they had intercepted 184.5kg of cocaine, estimated to be worth about £20 million, at a courier facility in Lagos. The drugs were reportedly concealed in brown boxes.
Several arrests have been made in Nigeria as part of that investigation, including the detention of a logistics company employee and a social media influencer with nearly 700,000 followers on Instagram.
Among those arrested is 49-year-old Afolabi Kazeem Michael, popularly known online as KC Luxury. He has presented himself as a businessman involved in gold and luxury goods and regularly shared videos featuring expensive cars.
Nigerian law enforcement authorities have accused Michael of being the alleged Nigerian “arrowhead” of an international drug trafficking network.
The UK and Nigerian investigations are continuing as authorities work to establish whether the separate cocaine seizures are connected and to identify others who may have been involved in the alleged trafficking operation.
