A 34-year-old Nigerian man accused of importing 10
kilograms of drug ice inside three fish statues, told ACT Supreme Court
today August 23, that two men threatened to destroy him if he didn't
take the haul to Sydney.
Police found broken pieces of the statue in a green wheelie
bin beside a Kaleen house after they intercepted the package and
arrested Jackson Igwebuike moments before he boarded a Murrays bus bound
for Sydney in 2015.
Igwebuike pleaded not
guilty to importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug
and is on trial in the ACT Supreme Court.
He claimed that he thought he was helping a friend a
friend's decor business. When he realised what was happening he became
"petrified" and unable to back out, after threats were made against him
and his wife, who was in Nigeria.
"They have ruined my life. I can't get even get a job" Igwebuike told the court.
Igwebuike said he was helped by the friend when he came to
Australia to study. He said he agreed to collect the fish statues for
the man, which had been delivered to a Canberra address, and take them
to Sydney.
He told the court he believed his friend made money out of the statues which were a home decor item "that Australians like"
But the court heard before Igwebuike left for Sydney, two
men who had been involved in the arrangements came and broke the fish
open.
Inside the statues were bags wrapped in black tape, which the men allegedly told Igwebuike to take to Sydney.
Inside the statues were bags wrapped in black tape, which the men allegedly told Igwebuike to take to Sydney.
Igwebuike said he expressed concern about transporting the
bags because he did not know their contents. But he said one of the men
lifted his shirt to show he had a gun and then brought out a phone to
show him a picture of his wife in Nigeria.
"I was petrified." he said.
Commonwealth prosecutor Caroline Dobraszczyk? said in her
opening address the drugs were discovered when three 20 kilogram statues
that arrived in a shipping crate from China were x-rayed by Border
Force officers at Port Botany on October 8.
Officers opened up one statue of a fish and discovered 43
packages filled with a white crystalline substance and wrapped in duct
tape. Forensic tests revealed the packets contained a combined total of
10.58 kilograms of methamphetamine, with the pure amount weighing about
8.47 kilograms.
Igwebuike rejected suggestions from prosecutors that he
made up the story about the two men and he was in control of the
process.
The case is expected to wind up tomorrow, August 24.
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