By Brave Dickson
An alleged transborder cocaine dealer is now in the Port Harcourt Maximum prison after he pleaded not guilty to a one-count charge of unlawful possession of 151 grams of cocaine.
The defendant, Amah Eze ‘m’ 35yrs from Abia State was accused by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Rivers State Command of transporting the said grams of cocaine from the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa to Equatorial Guinea before he was arrested by NDLEA.
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The defendant was said to have concealed the cocaine substance in a DVD player which prompted the curiosity of the NDLEA operatives at the airport to open the DVD player.
When the matter came up before Justice Sani at a federal high court in Port Harcourt, the defendant informed the court of his bail application which he filed through his lawyer, Barr Paul Ephraim.
Counsel to NDLEA, Barr Patrick Eshua who spoke to our correspondent outside the courtroom said: “The defendant was arrested on the 9th of September, 2019 at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa with 151 grams of cocaine.
“We filed a one-count charge against the defendant and he pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him. I, as the prosecutor now asked for a date to enable me to prove my case by calling the necessary witnesses.
“The defendant, however, informed the court that he had filed a bail application on November 14 and served on me same day. But I told the court that I am entitled to go through the application and react to it which the court agreed and that my two days have not elapsed.
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“Then the matter was adjourned till January 20, 2020, for the commencement of hearing while the defendant was remanded in prison custody.
“The defendant was found with unlawful possession of 151 grams of cocaine which was concealed in a bag popularly called Ghana Must Go and inside the bag was a DVD player cleverly concealed inside the bag.
“That aroused the suspicion of our officers at the airport as they wondered why DVD player will be bought in Nigeria and be transported to Equatorial Guinea.
“So, in that curiosity, they demanded to now have a closer look at the DVD player. While loosening the nuts on the DVD player, our personnel found a white nylon bag concealed with the cocaine inside the DVD player.
“So, the DVD was just a mode of concealment which will be tendered in court.”
