The Federal Government has handed over to the United States of America (USA) a Pakistani citizen indicted for drug dealing and money laundering, Muhammad Khalid Khan.
31-year-old Khan was extradited on April 28, through a collaboration of the U.S. Department of Justice, Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice, prosecutors from Nigeria’s Central Authority Unit (CAU) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
According to a statement by the United States Consulate-General, Lagos, Khan was arrested at the request of the U.S. Justice Department in Nigeria pursuant to a federal arrest warrant issued in the Southern District of New York.
It said Khan trafficked heroin into the US and Australia, among other places.
He also allegedly used a Lagos-based Nigerian narcotics transportation network, to distribute southwest-Asian heroin to global markets.
The U.S. Federal indictment out of the Southern District of New York charges Khan on three counts: “attempting to import heroin into the United States, international promotional money laundering, and international concealment money laundering.”
The statement said: “Muhammad Khalid Khan controlled an international drug trafficking and money laundering network responsible for trafficking narcotics to the U.S., Australia, Africa and Europe.
“His money-laundering network was widespread throughout the U.S. Australia, Canada, Africa, Europe and Asia.
“Khan has been the target of multiple DEA (US Drug Enforcement Agency) investigations including those conducted by international DEA Offices in Lagos, Nigeria, Islamabad, Pakistan, and Sydney, Australia, and domestic offices in New York and the DEA Special Operations Division, as well as international partnerships with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“Beginning in October 2017, DEA began investigating this Southwest Asia-based drug trafficker.
“Over the course of several investigations, Khan was found to be responsible for trafficking multikilogram quantities of heroin and the importation of said heroin into the United States and Australia.
“NDLEA investigators in conjunction with the DEA Lagos Office ran a parallel investigation into Khan’s utilization of a Lagos-based Nigerian narcotics transportation network, in furtherance of distribution of southwest-Asian heroin to global markets.
