For Afam Mallinson Emmanuel Ukatu, Nemesis has begun, the wanted drug lord who was an accomplice to DCP Abba Kyari in a N3 billion Tramadol deal Investigation from the NDLEA revealed that Ukatu was arrested while he was on board a flight to Abuja at the MM2 terminal of the Lagos airport The suspect owns a lot of pharmaceutical and plastic firms, asides being linked to not less than 103 bank accounts used for illegal deals.
Ikeja, Lagos – The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has finally arrested Afam Mallinson Emmanuel Ukatu, the billionaire drug baron behind the N3billion Tramadol deal involving the DCP Abba Kyari-led Intelligence Response Team (IRT). A report by Gistlover Nigerian has it that Ukatu, the chairman of Mallinson Group of Companies, was nabbed onboard a flight to Abuja at the MM2 terminal of the Lagos airport.
The publication said Ukatu is a major importer of high dosages of Tramadol Hydrochloride such as 120mg, 200mg, 225mg, and 250mg. According to the agency, the suspect runs pharmaceutical and plastic manufacturing firms used as a cover to import illegal pills into Nigeria, apart from the fact that he owns about 103 bank accounts majorly used for money laundering.
The arrest was confirmed by a tweet from NDLEA on Monday, April 25. Part of the agency’s statement on the development released by its spokespersons, Femi Babafemi, read: “Billionaire drug baron behind the N3billion tramadol deal involving the embattled suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari-led Intelligence Response Team, IRT, and Chief Afam Mallinson Emmanuel Ukatu has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA,” the statement reads.
“After months of surveillance and evading arrest, Ukatu who is Chairman of Mallinson Group of Companies was eventually nabbed onboard a flight to Abuja at the MM2 terminal of the Lagos airport, Ikeja on Wednesday 13th April. “Ukatu came under watch last year after five cartons of Tramadol 225mg were seized from his staff on 4th May 2021 when he sent them to sell to undercover police officers (unknown to Ukatu) from the then Kyari-led IRT of the Nigeria Police, Ikeja Lagos. The price of a carton of Tramadol was negotiated at N17 million each as against the then black market value that ranged between N18 million and N20 million a carton in Lagos.”
Kyari had alleged corrupt operatives of the NDLEA framed him up for demanding a reward for a whistleblower who aided the police Intelligence Response Team in the arrest of a suspect. The suspended senior police officer who used to head the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) has been in the eye of the storm after he was first fingered in a multi-million-dollars Internet fraud case by the US government.
