Ex-con caught with cocaine worth ₦4.6 billion at airport

Just 16 months after his previous arrest and conviction for smuggling 93 grains of cocaine, 48-year-old businessman Christian Ogbuji has been arrested again by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos.

According to a statement by the Director, Media & Advocacy at the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, Ogbuji was caught attempting to import 817 wraps of cocaine weighing 19.40 kilograms, with an estimated street value of ₦4.656 billion.

Ogbuji’s first arrest took place on May 10, 2023 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. He arrived from Uganda via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 951, after ingesting 93 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.986 kilograms. He was arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja and sentenced on July 13, 2023, receiving a two-year jail term, with the option to pay a fine of ₦3 million, which he did. The court also ordered the forfeiture of the cocaine, his international passport and foreign currency found on him at the time of arrest.

Despite his conviction, Ogbuji returned to drug trafficking. On September 18, 2024, he was arrested again at Lagos Airport during an internal check of passengers arriving on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa. Ogbuji initially passed a black travel bag through inspection but later sneaked back into the carousel area to hide a black backpack in the passed bag. Alert NDLEA officers intercepted him as he attempted to leave and a second search revealed 817 wraps of excreted cocaine hidden in the backpack, weighing 19.40 kilograms. The cocaine belonged to several members of a drug cartel operating from Addis Ababa.

During interrogation, Ogbuji admitted that he had left the backpack on the baggage carousel as a strategy to avoid detection. He assumed that once his luggage was released, he would not be subjected to further searches. He also revealed that he had obtained a new international passport to continue his illegal activities.

According to the NDLEA, Ogbuji is a key figure in a drug trafficking network that spans Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria and several West African countries including Benin, Togo, Ghana, Liberia and Ivory Coast.

Reacting to the arrest, NDLEA Chairman/CEO, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), commended the operatives involved in the operation, describing the seizure as a significant milestone in the agency’s fight against international drug cartels. He reaffirmed NDLEA’s commitment to disrupting the activities of drug syndicates in Nigeria.