Barely 16 months after he was arrested and convicted for ingesting 93 pellets of coc@ine, a 48-year-old businessman identified as Christian Ifeanyi Ogbuji has been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos for importing 817 wraps of the same Class A dr¥g weighing 19.40 kilograms with an estimated street value of Four Billion Six Hundred and Fifty Six Million Naira (N4,656,000,000.00).
This was revealed in a signed statement by the agency’s Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.
Ogbuji was first arrested 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 coc@ine with a gross weight of 1.986kg. He was subsequently 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. Ogbuji was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of paying a fine of Three Million Naira (N3,000,000.00), which he paid and was set free. The court also ordered the forfeiture of the seized 1.986 kilograms coc@ine, his international passport, 14 US dollars and 9000 Uganda shillings found on him at the time of his arrest.
Not done with crime, 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 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.
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 coc@ine were found concealed inside the backpack hidden in the black travelling bag that was earlier found with the suspect. A total of 817 pellets of coc@ine excreted by many traffickers in Addis Ababa weighing 19.40kg belonging to different members of a dr*g cartel were recovered.
During interview with the Ogbuji, he stated that he initially left the backpack containing the drg at the carousel area as a strategy to beat 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.
He claimed he had to procure a new international passport to continue his criminal trade.
Investigation reveals Ogbuji is an unrepentant kingpin within the network of dr*g cartels operating between Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria and others in the West African sub-region like Benin, Togo, Ghana, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire.
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