
Adeniji sentence is coming 11 months after an investigation was launched by the UK Border Agency.
According to officers at the Heathrow Airport, the 48-year-old Nigerian was stopped and searched when he arrived in the UK on a flight from Amsterdam on 4 April 2011. Searches of his two suitcases revealed they contained 31 kilos of cocaine, 5 kilos of heroin and 2 kilos of methamphetamine all estimated to have a street value of over N1 billion [£4million].
A search of Adeniji's flat in Regent's Plaza, Kilburn, revealed 23 suitcases, many of which tested positive for traces of drugs. Evidences suggesting that he had done the same journey to Amsterdam on many previous occasions under the guise of a businessman, who supplied heavy machinery to the oil business in Nigeria, were also found.
Jim Jarvie, Deputy Director of the UK Border Agency's Criminal and Financial Investigation, said the true amount of drugs smuggled by the Nigerian will never be known.
"Adeniji was clearly a significant figure at the centre of an extensive criminal network," he said. "He was involved in the importation and distribution of class A drugs on a grand scale. Although the true amount of drugs he smuggled into the UK will never be known, it is probably safe to assume he has been responsible for the importation of tens – if not hundreds - of millions of pounds worth."
Since his arrest, assets of between £500,000 and £1 million have been frozen by UK Border Agency investigators. They will now be the subject of Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation proceedings.
Adeniji admitted importation charges, but denied conspiring to import class A drugs.
A jury at Isleworth Crown Court unanimously found him guilt, sentencing him to 30 years imprisonment.
DailyTimes
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