A 48-year-old businessman, Christian Ogbuji, described as an “unrepentant kingpin” was, on Wednesday, re-arrested by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for alleged drug peddling.
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 weighing 1.986kg.
He was subsequently arraigned before the Federal High Court 12 Abuja, presided over by Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/192/2023, and convicted on July 13, 2023.
VOA NEWS gathered that Ogbuji was consequently sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of paying a fine of N3m.
A statement by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said Ogbuji eventually paid the fine.
Babafemi added that Ogbuji also forfeited the seized 1.986 kilograms of cocaine and his passport, while $14 and 9000 Uganda shillings were found on him at the time of his arrest.
However, the NDLEA revealed that 16 months later, Ogbuji was arrested again on September 18 with N4.6bn worth of cocaine.
Babafemi said, “Barely 16 months after he was arrested and convicted for ingesting 93 pellets of cocaine, a 48-year-old businessman Christian Ifeanyi Ogbuji has been intercepted by operatives of the NDLEA at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos for importing 817 wraps of the same Class A drug weighing 19.40 kilograms with an estimated street value of N4,656,000,000.00.
“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 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 made his way out of the arrival hall, vigilant NDLEA officers intercepted him and subjected him to a secondary search. It was then large wraps of excreted cocaine were found concealed inside the backpack hidden in the black bag that was earlier 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.“
Babafemi said during an interview with the suspect that he initially left the backpack containing the drug at the carousel area as a strategy to beat the 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.
The spokesperson said the suspect claimed he had to buy a new passport to continue his criminal trade.
“Investigation reveals Ogbuji is an unrepentant kingpin within the network of drug cartels operating between Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria and other countries in the West African sub-region like Benin, Togo, Ghana, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire,” he added.
