Barely 16 months after he was arrested and convicted for ingesting 93 pellets of cocaine, a 48-year-old businessman, Christian Ogbuji, has been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos for importing 817 wraps of the same Class A drug weighing 19.4 kilogrammes with an estimated street value of over N4.6 billion.
According to a statement issued by the spokesperson of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, Ogbuji was first arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on May 10, 2023, upon arrival from Uganda via Addis Ababa, onboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 951 for ingesting 93 pellets of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.986 kilogrammes.
He was subsequently arraigned before Federal High Court 12 Abuja, presided over by Hon. Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon, in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/192/2023, and convicted on 13 July 2023. Ogbuji was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of paying a fine of N3 million, which he paid and was set free.
Babafemi said Ogbuji, on the court order, also forfeited the seized 1.986 kilogrammes of cocaine, his international passport, 14 US dollars and 9000 Uganda shillings found on him at the time of his arrest.
The spokesman said: “Not done with crime, Ogbuji was again arrested at the Lagos airport on September 18, 2024, during an inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines flight passengers from Addis Ababa to Lagos.
The suspect had approached the joint examination table with a black travelling bag that had been searched by an NDLEA operative who cleared the luggage. In a dubious move, Ogbuji sneaked back to the carousel area to put inside the cleared bag a black backpack he left on the conveyor’s belt.
As he exited the arrival hall, vigilant NDLEA officers intercepted and subjected him to a second search. It was then large wraps of excreted cocaine found concealed inside the backpack hidden in the black travelling bag that was earlier seen with the suspect.
He said a total of 817 pellets of cocaine excreted by many traffickers in Addis Ababa weighing 19.4 kilogrammes belonging to different members of a drug cartel were recovered.
Babafemi said during the interrogation of the suspect. He stated that he initially left the backpack containing the drug at the carousel area as a strategy to beat NDLEA operatives, adding that he never knew there could be a “secondary search” since he had presented his bag for search previously and nothing incriminating was found. He claimed to procure a new international passport to continue his criminal trade.
The spokesman said investigations revealed Ogbuji is an unrepentant kingpin within the network of drug cartels operating between Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria and others in the West African sub-region like Benin, Togo, Ghana, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire.
In his reaction to the arrest of Ogbuji, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the officers and men of the MMIA Strategic Command for an excellent job done, adding that the seizure of such a large consignment of cocaine at the airport is a milestone that will send a strong message to the international drug cartels trying to find footholds in Nigeria.
He, however, promised that the agency would continue to work to disrupt the activities of drug cartels operating in the country.
