Photos: Drug Cartel Leader, ‘Temo’ Arrested in Lagos After Years on the Run

 

After many years of evading capture, Alhaji Sulaiman Jimoh, also known as Olowoidiogede or Temo, the 57-year-old head of the Mushin, Lagos drug cartel, has been apprehended by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

 

His arrest came after an intense confrontation with NDLEA operatives and his band of hoodlums at his stronghold.

 

According to authorities, the NDLEA had intercepted numerous large shipments of illicit drugs worth billions of naira, linked to Temo over the past two years.

Despite several encounters and gunfights between his armed gangs and law enforcement, Temo had remained elusive.

 

Recent seizures include 14,524.8 kilograms of Ghana Loud, a potent strain of cannabis sativa, smuggled from Ghana into Lagos on January 28, 2024; two truckloads of the same substance, totaling 8,852 kilograms, intercepted on May 4, 2023; and 252 kilograms of Loud seized from his enclave on July 26, 2023.

Temo’s notoriety for constantly evading capture was well-known, but the persistence and advanced tools of the NDLEA finally led to his downfall.

On July 22, 2024, at 10 a.m., NDLEA surveillance teams tracked him to Igbarere Street, Mushin. As he attempted to escape in a Mercedes Benz SUV GLE 350, marked 01G-300G, with the assistance of his hoodlums, he was quickly overwhelmed.

A team of about 50 operatives was deployed to the scene, successfully arresting Temo and recovering the SUV.

In response to the arrest, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, praised the Lagos State Command, Special Monitoring Task Force, and other units involved for their resilience and professionalism.

Marwa commented: “I’m particularly delighted because the arrest was eventually effected in his enclave without any casualty despite the attack on our men. This is therefore a clear message to others still involved in this criminal trade of illicit drugs that if they don’t opt out now, we’ll get them because we’re just steps away from their doorsteps and more importantly they can only run, they can’t hide forever.”