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Oluwole Adegboruwa sentenced to 40 years in US, to forfeit $20m for drug offences
Oluwole Adegboruwa, a United States-based Nigerian, and his accomplice, Enrique Isong, have been sentenced to 40 years combined jail term for coordinating the sales and distribution of a banned drug through the dark web across several states in the US.
A statement obtained on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Utah on Thursday had it that the US District Court also ordered Adegboruwa to forfeit the sum of $20m.
According to the statement, Adegboruwa led a syndicate of drug peddlers whom he instructed on how drugs obtained by customers through a dark web marketplace he controlled would be packaged and distributed.
Stressing on the arrest of the convict alongside Isong, it noted that the convict sold and distributed 300,000 oxycodone pills between October 2016 and May 2019 and made a sum of $9m from the illegal drug trade.
While Isong was jailed for 10 years in October, Adegboruwa was jailed for 30 years in November 2024.
The statement read, “Oluwole Adegboruwa, 54, of Las Vegas, Nevada, the main defendant and mastermind in a multi-million dollar dark web drug trafficking operation was sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment. He was also ordered supervised release for life and the forfeiture of over $20m, which is among the largest forfeitures holding a defendant financially accountable for his crimes in the history of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.
“The sentence, imposed by the US District Court Judge Jill N. Parish, comes after a jury found Adegboruwa and his co-defendant Enrique Isong, 49, of Los Angeles, California, guilty in May 2024 of multiple federal crimes, including conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and money laundering. On October 23, 2024, Isong was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and three years of supervised release.
“According to court documents, evidence presented at trial, and statements made at Adegboruwa’s sentencing hearing, from October 2016 through May 2019, Adegboruwa sold more than 300,000 oxycodone pills on dark web marketplaces to customers throughout the United States. The jury found that Adegboruwa organised and supervised a continuing criminal enterprise that earned approximately $9,112,471 in drug proceeds.”
Two Nigerian-born scientists—Adesola Adegoke, a researcher at Arizona State University (ASU), and Seunnla Adelusi, a PhD candidate at the Université de Sherbrooke, Canada—have been named among the 20 global winners of the Digital GreenTalents Award 2025.
These two Nigerians were announced among the winners during a virtual ceremony held on 25 November. In a statement following the virtual announcement ceremony, the organisers said the 20 awardees for this year joined from different time zones, including “very early morning in Canada and evening hours in the Philippines.”
The digital Green Talent Award is an annual initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) that recognises outstanding young researchers whose work advances sustainability through digital innovation.
Each year, 20 scientists are selected from a competitive global pool for their cutting-edge ideas at the intersection of digitalisation and environmental sustainability.
Alex Otti, the Abia State Governor, on Sunday paid a visit to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, at the Sokoto Correctional Centre.
The governor was accompanied by officials of the Sokoto State Government during the closed-door visit.
Nnamdi Kanu was recently moved to Sokoto after he was convicted on terrorism-related charges and handed a life sentence by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
Governor Otti had earlier promised to pursue every lawful and political avenue to ensure that Kanu gets justice. Sunday’s visit is seen as part of ongoing efforts by the Abia State Government regarding his case.
Details of the meeting were not made public as of the time of this report.
Armed terrorists have abducted a bride-to-be, her bridesmaid, and eight other residents from Chacho village in Wurno Local Government Area of Sokoto State
The Sokoto abduction occurred around 1:30 a.m., according to residents, when the attackers stormed the village. Most of the victims were women, with only one man also taken.
One resident sustained injuries and is receiving medical treatment. Villagers told reporters that the bride was preparing for her wedding scheduled for later that morning when the raid struck, plunging the community into shock and mourning.
A community member described the attack as “tragic,” noting the delay in security response. “Security operatives were alerted immediately, but they only arrived about an hour after the bandits had fled,” he said, expressing frustration.
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