The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has sentenced a former professional footballer, Segun George Hunkarin, and a fugitive drug kingpin, Ntoruka Chinedu, to a combined 24 years in prison without the option of a fine following their conviction for cocaine trafficking.
Justice Musa Kakaki handed down the judgment after finding both defendants guilty of charges relating to the unlawful importation of 7.05 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria.
According to a statement issued by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, Chinedu was initially arraigned in September 2015 for importing 6.25kg of cocaine but jumped bail and evaded law enforcement for nearly a decade.
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He was eventually rearrested on June 24, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja while attempting to smuggle an additional 800 grams of cocaine aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa.
NDLEA investigations revealed that Hunkarin, who previously played professional football for clubs in Brazil, was tracked down and apprehended at the airport car park while waiting to collect the cocaine consignment from Chinedu.
Hunkarin admitted in his statement that he had previously trafficked narcotics twice from Brazil to Ethiopia during his football career in South America.
Justice Kakaki sentenced Chinedu to 20 years’ imprisonment for the 2015 drug case and an additional two years for conspiring with Hunkarin to import the 800 grams of cocaine, bringing his total sentence to 22 years.
Hunkarin received a two-year custodial sentence for conspiracy. Reacting to the verdict, NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) commended the judiciary and operatives for their persistence in tracking down fugitives regardless of time passed.
"The eventual re-arrest of Chinedu after nearly 10 years on the run demonstrated the doggedness, patience, and thoroughness of NDLEA operatives in tracking down fugitives and ensuring that no drug trafficker escapes the long arm of the law." — Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.)
#NDLEA #SegunHunkarin #LagosCourt #DrugTrafficking #CrimeNews #NigeriaNews #MurtalaMuhammedAirport
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