Tinubu: U.S Court Orders FBI, DEA To Release Findings On Drug Probe

A U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. has ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to release documents related to an investigation of President Bola Tinubu dating back to the 1990s.

In a ruling on Tuesday, Judge Beryl Howell held that the agencies’ refusal to confirm or deny the existence of such documents, known as a “Glomar response” was not justified and must be lifted.

According to the judge, it is no longer “logical or plausible” to keep such information confidential, as there has already been official acknowledgment of the investigation involving Tinubu.

The ruling follows a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed in June 2023 by American transparency activist, Aaron Greenspan.

Greenspan had submitted 12 FOIA requests to six U.S. government agencies, FBI, DEA, IRS, CIA, Department of State, and the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, seeking records tied to a heroin trafficking investigation involving Tinubu and others, including Abiodun Agbele and Mueez Akande.

The agencies had refused to confirm or deny the existence of the records, prompting Greenspan to sue.

He argued that there was public interest in disclosing the information, especially given Tinubu’s role as Nigeria’s president and past legal proceedings related to alleged drug trafficking and money laundering.

Part of the evidence presented in court included a 1993 civil forfeiture complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in Illinois, which sought to seize $460,000 from Tinubu’s bank accounts.

The funds were suspected to be proceeds from narcotics trafficking. According to the affidavit by IRS Special Agent Kevin Moss, Tinubu’s accounts were identified as suspicious during investigations into a heroin ring in Chicago, involving Agbele and others.

While the judge ordered the FBI and DEA to release records or justify any continued withholding, the CIA was allowed to maintain its Glomar response, as Greenspan failed to show the agency had officially acknowledged the existence of relevant records.

The case remains ongoing, with further filings due by May 2 to determine the status of outstanding issues.

Tinubu: U.S Court Orders FBI, DEA To Release Findings On Drug Probe is first published on The Whistler Newspaper