Nigerian boss arrested again for cocaine smuggling

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Tuesday said it arrested Christian Ogbuji at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos as he attempted to smuggle drugs into the country after arriving from Uganda via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia .

According to the NDLEA, the suspect initially approached the common examination table with a black holdall, which was searched and cleared by an NDLEA staff member. In a suspicious move, Ogbuji later returned to the carousel to place a black backpack he had left on the conveyor belt into the vacated bag.

During a second, unexpected search, NDLEA officers discovered large packets of excreted cocaine in the backpack hidden in the black holdall originally released by authorities.

“A total of 817 cocaine pellets weighing 19.40 kilograms were recovered from many drug traffickers in Addis Ababa, belonging to various members of a drug cartel,” NDLEA stated.

NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi stressed that Ogbuji is considered an “unrepentant leader” within a network of drug cartels operating across West Africa, connecting Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria and several other countries, including Benin, Togo, Ghana, Liberia and Ivory Coast Coast.

Ogbuji's arrest comes just 16 months after his previous conviction for consuming 93 tablets of cocaine in 2023.

Following his arrest last year, Ogbuji was arraigned at the Federal Court 12 in Abuja and sentenced to two years in prison. However, instead of serving a prison sentence, he chose to pay a fine of 3 million Nigerian naira (US$1,807) and forfeit the seized cocaine, his international passport and a small sum of cash.

A recent report from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said Nigeria – Africa's most populous country with over 200 million people – has transformed in recent years from being a transit hub for gangs transporting drugs between South America and Europe has developed into a major consumption and distribution center.