A Nigerian self-acclaimed Pastor identified as Desmond Onyii Onuoha has been arraigned in a Zimbabwean court in the resort city of Victoria Falls after he was found in possession of 2.33 kg of cocaine with a street value of 126.7 million Zimbabwe dollars (about 188,000 U.S. dollars) stuffed in clothing items.
He faces 10 year jail term according to Zimbabwean laws if found culpable.
Onuoha is from the South Eastern Nigeria and resides in Lagos before delving into drug trafficking.
Security operatives arrested him at the Victoria Falls International Airport on Oct. 23 upon arriving from Brazil via Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
According to the Herald Newspaper reports on Tuesday, the Zimbabwean police were tipped that the suspect could be in possession of dangerous drug.
Onuoha is denying the charges, saying that he did not know the contents of a baggage he had been asked by a congregant back in Nigeria to hand over to a person in Victoria Falls.
He said he had come to Zimbabwe to pay the dowry for his wife, with whom he had been staying since February 2022.
A number of people have been arrested and appeared in court for trying to smuggle hard drugs into the country. Continue reading.
