NDLEA foils N4.6b cocaine smuggling attempt by convicted trafficker

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 48-year-old businessman, Christian Ifeanyi Ogbuji, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, for importing 817 wraps of Class A cocaine.

The drug weighed 19.40kg with an estimated street value of N4.6 billion.

Confirming the development in a statement yesterday, the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said Ogbuji’s interception came barely 16 months after he was arrested and convicted for ingesting 93 pellets of the same Class A drug.

Ogbuji was first arrested at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Wednesday, 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 1.986kg.

He was subsequently arraigned before Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/192/2023 and convicted on July 13, 2023.

Ogbuji was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of a fine of N3 million, which he paid and was set free.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of the seized 1.986kg of cocaine, his international passport, $14 and 9,000 Uganda shillings found on him at the time of his arrest.

Not done with crime, Ogbuji was again arrested at the Lagos airport on Wednesday, 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, which had been searched by an NDLEA operative who cleared the luggage.

In a dubious move, Ogbuji returned to the carousel area to put a black backpack he left on the conveyor belt inside the cleared bag.

As he exited the arrival hall, vigilant NDLEA officers intercepted and subjected him to a secondary search.

It was then that large wraps of excreted cocaine were found concealed inside the backpack hidden in the black travelling bag that was earlier seen with the suspect.

A total of 817 pellets of cocaine excreted by many traffickers in Addis Ababa weighing 19.40kg belonging to different members of a drug cartel were recovered.

During an interview with 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 he had to procure a new international passport to continue his criminal trade.

According to Babafemi, the investigation revealed that 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.