Two Nigerian
men arrested for smuggling 1.27 kilograms of cocaine in one of the men's
stomachs have had their hearing postponed to seek evidence on whether they
knew
each other or had accidentally met at the airport. See photos from their arrest
here. Phnom Penh Municipal Court presiding judge Heng Kesro on Tuesday, April
18th, ordered the postponement until April 28 to clarify what the relationship
between the men was.
Okafor Ifeanyi
Anthony, 42, and Adibe Paschal, also known as Oscar, 33, flew into Cambodia
from Nigeria in May last year on a Qatar Airways flight after a transit in
Dubai.
They were
arrested at Phnom Penh International Airport with over a kilogram of cocaine
discovered in Anthony’s stomach, according to their confession at the hearing.
Anthony said
that he was asked to swallow the drug capsules by a man in Nigeria named
“Nandy”, who allegedly told him to bring the drugs to a man called “Okata”
living in Cambodia.
“[Nandy] said
Okata will give me food to eat in order to get the drugs out, and he will give
me $8,000 as a transportation fee,” he said.
Paschal denied
any knowledge of the drugs, claiming that he met Anthony for the first time at
the Phnom Penh airport and that he came to Cambodia to buy clothes to sell in
Nigeria.
“When I was at
the immigration section [of the airport], I met Anthony and asked him for help
to fill out the form. After passing the scan machine, they arrested us,” Oscar
said.
Both suspects
said they had not known each other before and that they only started chatting
at the airport.
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