NDLEA arrests ex-convict with cocaine worth N4.6 billion at Lagos airport

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos, have arrested a 48-year-old businessman, Christian Ifeanyi Ogbuji, for importing 817 wraps of Class A drugs weighing 19.40kg and having an estimated street value of N4.656 billion.

Ogbuji was arrested just 16 months after he was convicted of taking 93 grains of cocaine.

NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement on Tuesday that Ogbuji was first arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, upon arrival from Uganda via Addis Ababa, on board Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 951.

He was then arrested for possession of 93 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.986kg gross and was subsequently summoned before the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon, with case number: FHC/ABJ/CR/192/2023.

On July 13, 2023, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment with the possibility of paying a fine of N3 million. He paid the fine and was released.

“Not yet done with the crime, Ogbuji was arrested again at Lagos Airport on September 18, 2024, during an internal check of Ethiopian Airlines flight passengers from Addis Ababa to Lagos.

A total of 817 pellets of cocaine were found, which had been excreted by various drug traffickers in Addis Ababa. They weighed 19.40 kg and belonged to various members of a drug cartel.

During interrogation with the suspect, he stated that he initially left the backpack containing the drugs at the carousel as a strategy to outsmart the NDLEA agents. He also said that he was not aware that a second search would take place as he had previously submitted his bag for search and nothing incriminating was found.

He claimed that he had to apply for a new international passport to continue his criminal activities.

Investigations show that Ogbuji is an unrepentant leader within the network of drug cartels that operates between Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria and other West African subregions such as Benin, Togo, Ghana, Liberia and Ivory Coast.