United States of America v. Jibril Adamu and Jean-Claude Okongo Landji

New York, New York criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged withconspiracy to distribute and to possess with he intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine in violation of Title 21, U.S. Code, Sections 959(c), 959(d), and 963.



This case arises from a multi-year international narcotics trafficking conspiracy in which Landji and Adamu used a private aircraft to transport multiton shipments of cocaine from South America to Africa and Europe. Landji is a

United States citizen who owned and operated an aviation charter business using a Gulfstream G2 jet, and Adamu was Landji's co-pilot in the operation that led to their ultimate arrest.



In 2016, Landji began planning a large-scale drug trafficking operation with his co-conspirator, David Cardona-Cardona ("Cardona”), a known cocaine trafficker. Cardona, who testified at trial pursuant to a cooperation agreement, introduced Landji to Adamu. Landji and Adamu undertook extensive preparations to conceal and facilitate their operation, which included retrofitting the G2, conducting test flights, scouting remote landing strips in Western Sahara, and communicating over secure messaging platforms.



In May 2018, Landji met with three individuals: Cardona, Youssouf Fofana, one of Cardona's drug customers, and a confidential DEA informant known as "Rambo” who posed as a large-scale trafficker. During a series of meetings in

Lomé, Togo, which were covertly recorded and admitted at trial, the conspirators discussed the logistics of the trafficking plans. The defendants planned to use the G2 to make "black flights” (i.e., flights with disabled transponders) to transport multi-ton cocaine shipments by co-mingling narcotics with legitimate cargo. Landji agreed to a one-kilogram test run to demonstrate the conspirators' capacity to move larger quantities of drugs.



In October 2018, the defendants finalized their plans for the test flight. They loaded the G2 with a kilogram of cocaine in Mali and flew it to Zagreb, Croatia. When they arrived, Croatian authorities arrested both defendants. Along with the

cocaine, the agents seized the defendants' mobile phones, which contained messages, videos, and contacts relating to their involvement in the drug conspiracy. Following the arrests, Adamu made admissions to DEA agents in which he acknowledged, among other things, his relationship with Cardona and his awareness that Cardona had previously used aircraft for drug smuggling.

Affirmed