A former international footballer, Hunkarin Segun George, has been convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for conspiring to unlawfully import cocaine into Nigeria, while a fugitive drug kingpin, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, received a 22-year jail term after being found guilty of multiple cocaine importation offences.

Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court in Lagos delivered the judgment on Friday, July 24, 2026, sentencing the two convicts to a combined total of 24 years’ imprisonment over the unlawful importation of 7.050 kilograms of cocaine.

According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Chinedu was first arraigned in September 2015 on a one-count charge marked FHC/L/227C/2015 for unlawfully importing 6.250 kilograms of cocaine. He pleaded not guilty and was granted bail but absconded midway through the trial, remaining at large for nearly 10 years.

The agency said Chinedu was eventually re-arrested by NDLEA operatives on June 24, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to smuggle 800 grams of cocaine into the country aboard an inbound Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa.

The NDLEA said investigations revealed that Chinedu had travelled from Turkey and transited through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he collected the consignment from another person before proceeding to Nigeria.

According to the agency, further checks showed that an accomplice, who turned out to be former professional footballer Hunkarin Segun George, was waiting at the airport car park to receive the illicit consignment.

“Hunkarin, who had stayed years in Brazil playing for football clubs, was promptly tracked and arrested at the car park,” the NDLEA said.

The agency disclosed that in his statement, Hunkarin admitted that while playing professional football in Brazil, “he had only trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia.”

Following their arrest, both men were arraigned on a three-count charge marked FHC/L/669C/2025 for the unlawful importation of 800 grams of cocaine.

Delivering judgment, Justice Kakaki sentenced Chinedu to 20 years’ imprisonment without an option of fine for unlawfully importing 6.250 kilograms of cocaine. The court also imposed an additional two-year prison term, also without the option of a fine, for conspiring with Hunkarin to unlawfully import 800 grams of cocaine, bringing his total sentence to 22 years.

Hunkarin was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on the conspiracy charge without the option of a fine.

During the proceedings, prosecuting counsel, Barrister Adekunle Adebajo, reminded the court that Chinedu had earlier been arraigned before Justice Salihu Saudi, now retired, in 2015 on the same importation charge but disappeared after being granted bail.

The prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants in line with the provisions of the NDLEA Act.

Counsel to Chinedu, Chief Benson Ndakara, and counsel to Hunkarin, Chief Emefo Etudo, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy and consider fines instead of custodial sentences. However, after reviewing the submissions, legal authorities and exhibits tendered before it, the court sentenced both convicts to prison terms without any option of fine.

Reacting to the judgment, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the judiciary, describing the conviction as “a reaffirmation of the courts’ commitment to ridding the country of drug trafficking and those who perpetrate it, no matter how long they evade justice.”

Marwa also praised the officers involved in the operation, saying the eventual re-arrest of Chinedu after nearly a decade 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.”

He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to working closely with the judiciary and other stakeholders to ensure that “persons involved in drug trafficking, regardless of their status or how long they attempt to evade justice, are brought to book.”