A Federal High Court in Lagos convicts former Nigerian international footballer Hunkarin Segun George and drug kingpin Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu over cocaine importation, with the court handing down prison terms of two and 22 years respectively.
A former Nigerian international footballer, Hunkarin Segun George, has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for his involvement in a cocaine importation conspiracy, while notorious drug kingpin Ntoruka Emmanuel Chinedu has been handed a combined 22-year jail term by the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Justice Musa Kakaki delivered the judgment after finding both men guilty of offences related to the unlawful importation of 7.05 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria.
According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Chinedu received 20 years’ imprisonment for importing 6.25 kilograms of cocaine and an additional two years for conspiring with Hunkarin to import another 800 grams, bringing his total sentence to 22 years. Hunkarin, who was convicted for his role in the conspiracy, was sentenced to two years in prison without the option of a fine.
The NDLEA revealed that Chinedu was initially arraigned in 2015 but jumped bail and remained on the run for nearly a decade before his re-arrest on June 24, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. He was allegedly intercepted while attempting to smuggle another cocaine shipment into the country on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa.
Investigators disclosed that Hunkarin was waiting in the airport car park to receive the illicit consignment. During interrogation, the former footballer reportedly admitted to previously trafficking drugs from Brazil to Ethiopia while playing football in South America.
Reacting to the judgment, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), commended the court and the agency’s officers for their diligence, describing the conviction as a strong warning to drug traffickers that justice will eventually catch up with them, regardless of how long they evade law enforcement.
The latest convictions underscore the NDLEA’s continued crackdown on transnational drug trafficking networks and reaffirm the agency’s commitment to combating narcotics-related crimes across Nigeria.
