Colombian authorities in collaboration with the FBI, have arrested a Nigerian national, Joseph Chinedu Okparaejesi, alias Alen, said to be a suspected transnational drug trafficker, at El Dorado International Airport, Bogotá.
Okparaejesi, who had been residing in Colombia for over 12 years, was apprehended upon arrival from São Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 following an intensive investigation led by the Dijín (Colombian police intelligence unit) and the Attorney General’s Office.
The suspect posed as a businessman in the beauty industry but was allegedly coordinating large-scale cocaine shipments to Spain.
Authorities revealed that Okparaejesi financed drug procurement and oversaw operations involving human couriers and specially designed double-bottom suitcases to smuggle narcotics.
His arrest was facilitated by intelligence from a detained drug mule en route to Spain, who disclosed details of the Nigerian’s network.
As a result of this breakthrough, 15 other individuals linked to his operations have also been arrested.
Investigations indicate that Okparaejesi married a Colombian woman in 2012 at the Nuestra Señora de Fátima parish in Bogotá.
He reportedly ran a business dealing in hair extensions, named “Nigeria African,” located near Ciudad de Cali Avenue.
A close associate of the suspect told El Tiempo that the Nigerian rarely left Colombia, traveling to Africa approximately every two years to visit his family.
"The last time we spoke, he told us he was in Ghana,” the associate said.
The Colombian National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (INPEC) has confirmed his detention, with charges of drug trafficking, production, and distribution filed against him.
