The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has apprehended an ex-convict, Christian Ogbuji for importing 817 wraps of cocaine weighing 19.40kg with an estimated value of N4.6 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA.
This was contained in a statement issued by NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, on Tuesday in Abuja.
Babafemi said the arrest came barely 16 months after Ogbuji was arrested and convicted for ingesting 93 pellets of cocaine.
He said the 48-year-old businessman was first arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.
This, he said, was upon his 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.
Babafemi said the suspect was arraigned before 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.
He said that Ogbuji was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of paying a fine of N3 million which he paid and was set free.
He, however, said the court also ordered the forfeiture of 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.
Unrepentant, Ogbuji was again arrested at the Lagos airport on Wednesday, Sept 18, during an inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines flight passengers from Addis Ababa to Lagos.
During a security screening, NDLEA operatives searched Ogbuji’s black travelling bag at the joint examination table, initially finding nothing suspicious.
However, in a dubious move, Ogbuji returned to the carousel area and discreetly added a black backpack (previously left on the conveyor belt) to the cleared luggage.
Vigilant NDLEA officers intercepted Ogbuji before he exited the arrival hall and conducted a secondary search, revealing large wraps of excreted cocaine hidden inside the backpack, concealed within the original black travelling bag.