An ex-convict, Christian Ogbuji has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the NDLEA Spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the 48-year-old Ogbuji was arrested for importing 817 wraps of cocaine drug weighing 19.40 kilograms with an estimated street value of ₦4,656bn.
He was nabbed at the Lagos airport on Wednesday, 18th September 2024, during an inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines flight passengers from Addis Ababa to Lagos.
Narrating how the suspect was nabbed, the NDLEA spokesman disclosed that he had approached the joint examination table with a black travelling bag which was 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,” he said.
“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 that large wraps of excreted cocaine were found concealed inside the backpack hidden in the black travelling bag that was earlier found with the suspect.”
The arrest of the suspect comes barely 16 months after he was arrested and convicted for ingesting 93 pellets of the same drug.
He was apprehended at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, on Wednesday 10th May 2023 upon arrival from Uganda via Addis Ababa, onboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 951 for ingesting 93 pellets of cocaine with a gross weight of 1.986kg.
Following the arrest, Ogbuji, he arraigned before Federal High Court 12 Abuja presided over by Hon. Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/192/2023, and convicted on 13th July 2023.
He was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of N3m fine, which he paid and was released.
He was also ordered by the court to forfeit the seized 1.986 kilograms of cocaine, his international passport, 14 US dollars and 9000 Uganda shillings found on him at the time of his arrest.
