Airport drug smuggler gets nine years

Jul 10 2007 By Paul Beard, Birmingham Mail

A MAN who was caught with four kilos of cocaine in his luggage when he arrived at Birmingham International Airport was jailed for nine years.

Kalu Eleanye Eme (39) who is Nigerian but was living in Lome, Togo, West Africa, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to being concerned in the illegal importation of the class A drug.

Prosecutor Neil Chawla told the court that on Sunday, April 1 Eme arrived at Birmingham airport on a flight from Nigeria via Amsterdam.

He was stopped and searched by customs officers who found packages of cocaine weighing four kilos in his luggage.

The drug, with a purity of 77 per cent, could have been worth up to £400,000 once it had been divided into street-level deals.

Mr Chawla added that Eme also had £4,000 in cash on him, which has already been confiscated.

Glyn Samuel, defending, said Eme had been recruited to act as a "mule'' to carry the drugs at a time when he was in dire financial circumstances.

Judge James Pyke jailed Eme and also recommended that he be deported when he has served his sentence.