Ex-convict found with 817 wraps of cocaine worth N4.656bn at Lagos Airport

Christian Ogbuji, a 48-year-old businessman, was apprehended by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) agents at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, just 16 months after he was detained and found guilty of the cocaine ingestion crime.

According to a statement released on Tuesday by the Director of Media & Advocacy at the NDLEA Headquarters in Abuja, he was detained for bringing in 817 wraps weighing 19.40 kilograms, which is equivalent to ₦4,656 billion on the black market.

On Wednesday, May 10, 2023, Ogbuji was initially taken into custody at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja. He had arrived from Uganda via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 951, when he was found to have consumed 93 cocaine pellets weighing a total of 1.986 kg.

On July 13, 2023, he was found guilty after being arraigned before Federal High Court 12 Abuja, which was chaired by Hon. Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon. His charge number was FHC/ABJ/CR/192/2023.

Ogbuji was given a two-year prison sentence and given the option to pay a ₦3 million fine. He chose to do so and was released.

In addition, the court ruled that the 1.986 kilograms of cocaine that were found on him at the time of his arrest, his international passport, 14 US dollars, and 9000 Uganda shillings would all be forfeited.

Relentlessly pursuing his criminal career, Ogbuji was apprehended once more on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at the Lagos airport while assisting Ethiopian Airlines passengers boarding a trip from Addis Ababa to Lagos.

An NDLEA agent cleared the luggage once the suspect entered the joint examination table carrying a black travel bag. Ogbuji made the dubious decision to slip back to the carousel area and place a black rucksack he had left on the conveyor belt inside the cleared bag.

Alert NDLEA officers stopped him as he was leaving the arrival hall and conducted a second search on him. At that point, huge wraps of excreted cocaine were discovered stashed inside the backpack that was originally discovered inside the black travel bag that the suspect had been found with.

817 cocaine pellets, totaling 19.40 kg, that were excreted by numerous traffickers in Addis Ababa and belonged to various drug gang members were found.

The suspect said in an interview that he first left the drug-filled backpack at the carousel area as a means of eluding NDLEA agents. He added that he was unaware that there might be a follow-up search because he had previously given his bag for search and nothing of interest had turned up.

He claimed he had to procure a new international passport to continue his criminal trade.

NDLEA said, “Investigation 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.”

Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd) praised the officers and men of the MMIA Strategic Command for a job well done in response to the arrest of Ogbuji, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA. He added 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 declared that the Agency will keep up its efforts to thwart the operations of drug cartels that are present in the nation.