Two Accused of Drug Trafficking after UK-Nigeria Investigation

A man and a woman have been charged with international drugs trafficking offences as part of an investigation involving police in the UK and Nigeria.

Oladipupo Atandare, 50, from Dagenham and Latifat Yusuf, 44, from Hornchurch were arrested following the seizure of more than 180kg (397lb) of cocaine in the UK on 5 August.

They appeared at Barkingside Magistrates Court on 8 August and were remanded in custody. They will next appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 7 September.

The Metropolitan Police said the arrests related to solely the UK drugs seizure, but inquiries are continuing into the discovery of a similar-sized amount of cocaine in Nigeria.

On Tuesday Nigerian authorities said they had discovered 184.5kg of cocaine, worth about £20m, in brown boxes at a courier facility in Lagos.

There have been a series of arrests in Nigeria, including a logistics company employee and a social media influencer with nearly 700,000 followers on Instagram.

Afolabi Kazeem Michael, who is 49 and known online as KC Luxury, presented himself as a businessman and influencer dealing in gold and luxury goods, and regularly posted videos of his flashy cars.