A CLASS A drug-dealing fugitive who escaped the grip of the law for two years has finally been caught and returned to prison.
Valentine Onyeabor, formerly of Winchelsea Road, Harlesden, was apprehended at an address in Croydon, south London, on Thursday last week following extensive enquiries by Brent’s Wanted Offender Unit.
His trial back in 2008 heard the now 35-year-old was involved in a drug deal for half a kilogram of heroin – worth £7,000 – in New Cross, south-east London, in February 2006 with undercover police officer posing as customers.
Detective Constable Carven Morgan from Brent’s Wanted Offender Unit said: “The damage to London’s communities and public confidence in the criminal justice system is exacerbated by the fact that drug dealers are often alluring role models, with apparently glamorous lifestyles and a propensity for violence, for vulnerable youths.
“Many Londoners perceive such individuals as ‘above the law’. They are not.”
Onyeabor was originally tried in December 2006 but a retrial was needed and he was convicted in April 2008 of possession of heroin with intent to supply at Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London.
He was sentenced to five years and 10 months’ imprisonment with a recommendation for deportation back to Nigeria at the end of his jail term.
However, due to the extraordinary length of time he had already spent on remand in custody from the date of his arrest, he was released early from prison on licence on November 14 2008. The following March he was refused leave by the Court of Appeal to appeal against his conviction.
Onyeabor subsequently breached his licence conditions and from January 14, 2011, was wanted on recall to prison by the probation service but could not be located – until last week.
The Nigerian has been remanded in custody until he completes his original prison sentence, at which point he will be repatriated to his homeland by the immigration authorities.
