SENTENCED TO SEVEN AND HALF YEARS IN PRISON:
NIGERIA’S Most Notorious Drug Trafficker in Britain, ADEWALE ADEROUNMU JAILED…For Supplying Cannabis worth N598 Million (£1.2million)
*Worked as Postal delivery Driver, Conspired to supply drugs to North London
*55 year old arrested after Border Force officers noticed unusually high number of intercepted drugs packages on his delivery route
* Found to have couriered 100 parcels of drugs from Overseas at a street value of £1.2m within six years
* Tells court at Old Bailey: ‘I am Guilty, I Committed the Crime’-Adewale
* “The issue of corrupt insiders is taken extremely seriously by the NCA in its mission to protect the public. With their privileged access they are crucial enablers of a wide range of criminality. In this case, we worked closely with the Parcelforce Worldwide security team to secure an arrest”-Steve McIntyre, Senior Investigations manager, National Crime Agency
BY IMODE ITOHAN/CRIME REPORTER, UNITED KINGDOM
HE’S A NIGERIAN naturalized British citizen. He is regarded Nigeria’s most notorious drug trafficker in the Queen’s enclave. ADEWALE ADEROUNMU lived in a world of crime-selling drugs on the streets of London as a source of livelihood. For selling 100 drugs from Overseas at a street value of £1.2m (N598 Million) within six years, he has been sent to seven and half years in prison.
Adewale is regarded in Nigerian homes as a corrupt postal delivery driver who conspired to intercept, supply cannabis daily and had been sent to addresses in north London had been jailed.
This 55 year old resident of south London, pleads guilty at the Old Bailey last year to one charge of conspiring to supply drugs and was recently sentenced to prison by the same court.
Court document revealed how Aderounmu, a Parcelforce Worldwide driver for over a decade, was arrested the moment Border Force officers noticed an unusually high number of intercepted drugs packages had been posted to addresses on Adewale’s delivery route.
Eye witness account confirmed that on one occasion in October 2016, Border Force officials intercepted a parcel containing almost 6kg of cannabis addressed to a non-existent address in NW1.
This seizure was replaced with a substitute ‘dummy’ package. After much surveillance Adewale was arrested by National Crime Agency officers as he handed over the package to another man on the street.
Further checks revealed that a large number of previously-seized drug parcels had all been addressed to post codes beginning either NW1 0 or NW1 1 – the route delivered by Adewale. It was discovered that between 2010 and 2016, around 100 parcels posted from overseas containing drugs with a street value of £1.2m were intercepted and seized by Border Force officials. All the drugs were posted to NW1 0 or NW1 1 addresses, which originated from Nigeria or South Africa. Analysis of Adewale’s bank account revealed regular cash deposits of between £100 and £400 were received between 2014 and 2016.
The payments ceased in October 2016 after Aderounmu had been arrested. Steve McIntyre, senior investigations manager at the National Crime Agency said: “It’s extremely important that smuggling routes like these are detected and the offenders who set them up and use them are brought to justice. The issue of corrupt insiders is taken extremely seriously by the NCA in its mission to protect the public. With their privileged access they are crucial enablers of a wide range of criminality. In this case, we worked closely with the Parcelforce Worldwide security team to secure an arrest.”
For Adrian Flasher, from the CPS, he said:
“Adewale Aderounmu was an experienced delivery driver who took advantage of his position to enrich himself, by intercepting and passing on significant amounts of cannabis for cash, in turn exploiting the international parcel delivery system for his own financial gain.
“By analyzing the pattern of the Border Force drugs seizures, and Adewale’s banking records, together with the use of other proactive techniques, the prosecution was able to build a compelling case against him.
“The CPS worked closely with investigators and customs officials from a very early stage to compile the evidence and build a prosecution strategy, with the result that Adewale was left with no alternative but to admit his guilt.”
