The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced on Tuesday that it had arrested Christian Ogbuji at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos as he attempted to smuggle drugs into the country, having come from Uganda via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
According to the NDLEA, the suspect initially approached the joint examination table with a black travel bag, which was searched and cleared by an NDLEA operative. In a suspicious move, Ogbuji later returned to the carousel to slip a black backpack, which he had left on the conveyor belt, into the cleared bag.
During a second, unexpected search, NDLEA officers discovered large wraps of excreted cocaine concealed inside the backpack, which had been hidden in the black travel bag initially cleared by authorities.
“A total of 817 pellets of cocaine excreted by many traffickers in Addis Ababa weighing 19.40 kilograms belonging to different members of a drug cartel were recovered,” NDLEA stated.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi emphasized that Ogbuji is regarded as an “unrepentant kingpin” within a network of drug cartels operating across West Africa, which connects Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and several other countries, including Benin, Togo, Ghana, Liberia, and Ivory Coast.
Ogbuji’s arrest comes just 16 months after his previous conviction for ingesting 93 pellets of cocaine in 2023.
After his arrest last year, Ogbuji was charged in Federal High Court 12 in Abuja and sentenced to two years in prison. However, instead of serving time, he chose to pay a fine of 3 million Nigerian Naira (US$1,807), forfeiting the seized cocaine, his international passport, and a small sum of cash.
A recent report from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) states that in recent years, Nigeria—Africa’s most populous country with over 200 million people—has transformed from a transit hub for gangs moving drugs between South America and Europe into a significant consumer and distributor.