16 Months After Arrest, Imprisonment, Ex-convict Nabbed Again With N4.6bn Worth Cocaine At Lagos Airport

According to a statement issued on Tuesday by NDLEA Spokesman Femi Babafemi, the 48-year-old Ogbuji was apprehended for importing 817 wraps of cocaine weighing 19.40 kilograms, with an estimated street value of 4.656 billion.

Ogbuji was nabbed on September 18, 2024, during an inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines flight passengers arriving from Addis Ababa.

The NDLEA spokesman detailed that Ogbuji approached the joint examination table with a black traveling bag, which was initially cleared by an NDLEA operative. In a dubious move, he returned to the carousel area to add a black backpack to the cleared bag.

As he attempted to exit the arrival hall, vigilant NDLEA officers intercepted him and conducted a secondary search. Large wraps of excreted cocaine were discovered concealed inside the backpack hidden in the black traveling bag.

This arrest comes just 16 months after Ogbuji was previously convicted for ingesting 93 pellets of cocaine. He was apprehended at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on May 10, 2023, upon arrival from Uganda via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 951.

Following that arrest, Ogbuji was arraigned before the Federal High Court 12 Abuja and convicted on July 13, 2023. He was sentenced to two years in prison with an option of a 3 million fine, which he paid for his release. The court also ordered him to forfeit the 1.986 kilograms of cocaine seized, along with his international passport, 14 US dollars, and 9,000 Uganda shillings found at the time of his arrest.