Nigerian Dr¥g Tr+fficking Suspect, Joseph Chinedu Okparaejesi, Arrested in Colombia
Colombian authorities, in collaboration with the FBI, have arrested Joseph Chinedu Okparaejesi, a Nigerian national suspected of running a transnational dr¥g tr+fficking network.
Okparaejesi, also known as “Alen,” was apprehended at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá after arriving from São Paulo, Brazil.
According to intelligence sources, the arrest followed an extensive investigation led by Colombia’s Dijín (police intelligence unit) and the Attorney General’s Office. Okparaejesi, who had lived in Colombia for over 12 years, allegedly operated under the guise of a beauty industry businessman while coordinating large-scale c@caine shipments to Spain.
Authorities believe he financed dr¥g procurement and managed operations that involved human couriers and specially designed double-bottom suitcases for sm¥ggling n+rcotics. His arrest was reportedly made possible by intelligence from a detained dr¥g mule en route to Spain, who exposed details of the network.
As part of the ongoing crackdown, 15 other individuals connected to Okparaejesi’s operations have also been arrested. Investigators discovered that he married a Colombian woman in 2012 at Nuestra Señora de Fátima parish in Bogotá and ran a hair extension business called “Nigeria African” near Ciudad de Cali Avenue.
A close associate told El Tiempo that Okparaejesi rarely left Colombia, visiting Africa only once every two years. “The last time we spoke, he told us he was in Ghana,” the associate revealed.
The Colombian National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (INPEC) has confirmed his detention, with formal charges of dr¥g tr+fficking, production, and distribution filed against him.
