Christian Ifeanyi Ogbuji, an ex convict and business man has been rearrested months after being arrested and convicted for smuggling 93 pellets of cocaine.
Ogbuji, 48, has been apprehended again by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.
This time, Ogbuji was caught attempting to import 817 wraps of the same drugs, weighing 19.4 kilograms, with an estimated street value of N4.656 billion.
Ogbuji was first arrested on May 10, 2023, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja, after arriving from Uganda via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 951. He had ingested 93 pellets of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.986 kilograms. Following his arrest, he was arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja and convicted on July 13, 2023.
He was sentenced to two years in prison but was given the option of paying a fine of N3 million, which he did to secure his release.
Despite his previous conviction, Ogbuji was arrested again on September 18, 2024, at the Lagos airport during an inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers from Addis Ababa.
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He initially passed through the joint examination table, where his black traveling bag was searched and cleared by an NDLEA operative. However, in a deceptive move, Ogbuji returned to the carousel area and placed a black backpack—previously left on the conveyor belt—into the cleared bag.
As Ogbuji attempted to exit the arrival hall, vigilant NDLEA officers intercepted him and conducted a secondary search.
They discovered large wraps of excreted cocaine concealed inside the backpack within the black traveling bag. The total haul of 817 cocaine pellets, weighing 19.4 kilograms, was identified as belonging to various members of a drug cartel.
During interrogation, Ogbuji admitted to initially leaving the backpack at the carousel area to evade NDLEA detection, believing that a secondary search would not be conducted after his bag had been previously cleared. He also revealed that he had obtained a new international passport to continue his illegal activities.
Investigations revealed that Ogbuji is a key figure within a network of drug cartels operating between Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and other West African countries such as Benin, Togo, Ghana, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire.
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In response to Ogbuji’s arrest, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised the MMIA Strategic Command for their outstanding work. He highlighted that the seizure of such a significant consignment of cocaine at the airport would send a strong message to international drug cartels attempting to establish operations in Nigeria. Marwa affirmed the Agency’s commitment to continuing its efforts to disrupt the activities of drug cartels in the country.
