Fresh facts have emerged on how the suspended DCP Abba Kyari and his team were contacted by informants about the 25kg of cocaine from Brazil and how greed exposed the drug deal.
There was a breakdown in negotiation between the informants and Kyari and his team.
The informants who exposed the drug cartel failed to agree on the proposed sharing of the drug proceeds in the ratio of 60:40; 60 per cent for Kyari and his boys while the informants get 40 per cent.
But the informants insisted on 50:50. The failure to agree exposed the whole deal.
The street value of one kilogram of cocaine is put at N7 million while the entire 25kg will sell for N175 million.
If the informants had agreed to Kyari’s term of 60:40; it means the Deputy Commissioner of Police and his team would have shared N105 million while the informants got N70 million.
But a 50:50 means each of the parties will get N87.5 million.
Kyari and his team were expected to sell. He later sold 5kg and delivered $61,400 to the undercover commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Wednesday, has disagreed with the Police that NDLEA officers at the Enugu International Airport provided the cover and clearance for the drug barons.
The NDLEA declared that it has no reason to shield anyone who may be indicted in the course of the ongoing investigation of the 25kg cocaine deal.
According to him, “To correct some inaccuracies in the information in the public space that NDLEA officers at the Enugu airport were the ones who received from the cartel details about the mule coming from Addis Ababa, the Agency wishes to quote from the transcript of Abba Kyari’s recorded conversation with our undercover officer and a portion of ASP James Bawa’s statement to the police as documented in the police investigation report, a copy of which was made available to the Agency, to state that it’s an established fact that it’s the Abba Kyari’s team that was contacted by the cartel and without doubt the records clearly show how their ring works.”
Shortly after the NDLEA declared Kyari wanted, Babafemi said, the police questioned him and others, after which they were handed over along with the report of their interrogation.
According to the police investigation report, ASP James Bawa in his statement to the police reveals that “he was called by an informant identified as IK from Brazil who told him that a drug courier will be arriving on board Ethiopian Airlines in Enugu.
“He explained further that a pointer from IK, the Brazil-based informant met with him at about 1420hrs on 19th January 2022 outside the airport and showed him a picture of the courier. Subsequently, they sighted the suspect as he exited the airport terminal after all arrival clearance formalities, and he was arrested with another associate.”
The embattled Abba Kyari, according to NDLEA, also shed light on the process in his recorded conversation with the undercover anti-drug officer. He said: “They are greedy, seriously greedy (referring to his informants), we tried to have them accept 40% but they refused, except 50%. They know the rudiment of the deal very well; they are the ones that do the packing. From Brazil, one of the informants accompanied it to Ethiopia. You understand; one of the informants accompanied the goods to Ethiopia, one of the informants that give us information. He is the boy of the big baron.
“Addis, from Addis it will be given to those to proceed further with it, he will get their snapshots without their knowledge. Yes, he will reveal those that are conveying it further, get snapshots of theirs without their knowledge and send to us (Abba Kyari’s team). So we already know the goods, picture and the cloths they are wearing, hope you understand, we know your name, he will give us everything. So, automatically my team will just be waiting, they will just see you and arrest you.”
Responding to NDLEA’s question on whether his boys are usually stationed inside or outside the airport, Abba Kyari reportedly said: “Yes, yes, some are outside while some are inside. They will just allow you to finish arrival formalities and arrest you the moment you come out.”
The NDLEA spokesman said “the above no doubt establishes who the cartel was relating with and their modus operandi. Again, this is to correct inaccuracies in some reports and assure that the Agency will not deviate from an evidence-based investigation that will spare nobody found complicit.”
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