A Nigerian who lived like a king and rubbed
shoulders with the royalty in Australia as
been sentenced to jail after it was discovered
that he ran a drug and crime syndicate.
Published: 14.23Isaac Dachen PrinteMail
Chief Maximus Osuamadi with the Australian
deputy PMplay
Chief Maximus Osuamadi with the Australian
deputy PM (Telegraph UK)
A well respected Nigerian business man who
is also the Eze Ndigbo of Australia, Chief
Maximus Osuamadi, has been jailed by
Sydney court for being the brain behind
some high profile crimes and running a drug
cartel syndicate which operates between
Nigeria, China, Brazil and other Asian
countries.
According to the Telegraph UK, the Nigerian
community leader was actually the boss of a
well run West African crime syndicate, before
he was busted by underground cops.
In a special report carried out by the
newspaper, Chief Osuamadi was a highly
successful businessman and respected
community leader of Sydney’s growing
Nigerian community.
Read the report here:
"The Chief, as he liked to be known, drove a
Mercedes-Benz and was deeply involved in
local issues in western Sydney, meeting
local politicians such as former premier
Morris Iemma and senior police officers.
But in reality Chief Maximus was the boss of
a West African crime syndicate which some
police likened to the black Mafia of Sydney
with the Chief, a man living a double life as
family man and businessman, frequently
needing to travel to China and Nigeria, as its
Godfather.
In 2010, Strike Force Bellevue was set up
and 11 people were arrested after
undercover operatives infiltrated the
syndicate.
'It was a secret criminal society in this city
and beyond, which contributed significantly
to the illegal drug supply in the Sydney
metropolitan area,' said Detective
Superintendent Nicholas Bingham, Drug
Squad Commanderat the time.
They had no criminal records and really were
an unknown criminal element.
On Friday in Parramatta District court,
Osuamadi was sentenced to six years’ jail for
supplying a commercial quantity of
methamphetamine during an undercover
operation in Auburn Botanical Gardens and in
a series of secretly taped conversations.
When arrested at his Granville home, he
remained indignant. He said was of royal
blood with ties to some of NSW’s leading
politicians, the local police and even the
commissioner, he told police.
'Everybody in Granville knows me, the police
there and the local politicians. I am an
identity. I am Chief of the Igbo (Nigerian)
community and people call me Chief
Maximus. I don’t know if you know about
the African tradition of royalty. We trace our
royalty back to the Queen Sheeba of Israel.'
Maximus owned a string of businesses
including an African grocery store, hair
salon, a limousine company, Internet cafe
and a Western Union money transfer
franchise but said many of them had
collapsed.
However, police said it was all a front for
his drug business, which helped pay for his
lavish lifestyle.
Born in Nigeria, the 49-year-old was raised
in the Vatican where he was studying to
become a priest before dropping out. He
arrived in Australia in 1988 and became a
citizen in 1990.
It is known to investigators that members of
the syndicate and the accused are involved in
the supply of methamphetamine and have
access to false identification and passports.
The lengthy closed court trial heard
evidence that Osuamadi, a male co-accused
and an undercover officer, had a
conversation where the Chief had said he
was planning to travel to China to organise
heroin smuggling.
Chief Maximus’s trial was held in closed
court because evidence by undercover police
and their methods in cracking the syndicate
were heard in camera.
Drug Squad Investigation Co-ordinator,
Detective Inspector Jason Smith said the
police were confronted with a criminal group
of which people had very little knowledge.
'West African organised crime syndicates had
not previously been the subject of a
dedicated criminal investigation by an
Australian law enforcement agency."
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