Ex-Nigerian International Footballer Jailed for Cocaine Importation as Drug Kingpin Bags 22 Years
A former Nigerian international footballer, Hunkarin Segun George, has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for conspiracy to unlawfully import cocaine into Nigeria, while a fugitive drug kingpin, Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu, has been handed a 22-year jail term for multiple cocaine trafficking offences.
Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court, Lagos, delivered the judgment on Friday, July 24, 2026, sentencing the two convicts to a combined 24 years imprisonment for 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 6.250kg of cocaine. He pleaded not guilty and was granted bail, but absconded during trial and remained 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 (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to smuggle 800 grams of cocaine into the country aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa.
NDLEA 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.
Further investigation led operatives to an accomplice waiting at the airport car park to receive the illicit drug. The accomplice was identified as Hunkarin Segun George, the former professional footballer.
“Hunkarin, who had spent years in Brazil playing for football clubs, was promptly tracked and arrested at the car park,” the NDLEA stated.
The agency added that in his confessional 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 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 6.250kg of cocaine. The court also imposed an additional two-year sentence, also without an option of 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 without an option of fine on the conspiracy charge.
During proceedings, prosecuting counsel, Barrister Adekunle Adebajo, reminded the court that Chinedu had earlier been arraigned before Justice Salihu Saidu (now retired) in 2015 on the same importation charge but disappeared after being granted bail. He 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 an option of fine instead of custodial sentences. However, after reviewing submissions, legal authorities and exhibits tendered, the court imposed prison terms without an option of fine.
Reacting to the judgment, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), 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 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.”
