Suspended Nigerian top cop linked to drug cartel
Abba Kyari
What you need to know:
- Deputy police commissioner Abba Kyari was suspended last year after he was implicated by Nigerian influencer Ramon Abbas, known as Hushpuppi, who pleaded guilty to money laundering and other crimes in the United States
Lagos. Nigeria's drug agency on Monday declared a suspended senior police officer once celebrated for exposing several high-profile crimes as wanted for complicity in an international drug deal.
Deputy police commissioner Abba Kyari was suspended last year after he was implicated by Nigerian influencer Ramon Abbas, known as Hushpuppi, who pleaded guilty to money laundering and other crimes in the United States.
Kyari denied the allegations against him.
On Monday, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it took the decision to declare Kyari wanted after efforts to question him on his alleged involvement in a cocaine deal failed.
"With the intelligence at our disposal, the agency believes strongly that DCP Kyari is a member of a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline," NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said.
"He needs to answer questions that crop up in an ongoing drug case in which he is the principal actor."
Babafemi said Kyari tried to compromise an NDLEA officer in January by asking him to conceal part of the 25-kilogram (55-pound) cocaine haul that was seized from some suspects.
The suspended cop was invited for questioning on February 10 but did not show up or respond, according to the NDLEA.
