A Nigerian pastor has appeared 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.

The 46-year-old Desmond Onyii Onuoha from Lagos, Nigeria, faces up to 10 years in jail if convicted of drug trafficking and possession charges, according to Zimbabwean laws.

He was arrested at the Victoria Falls International Airport on Oct. 23 upon arriving from Brazil via Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, after Zimbabwean police were tipped off that he could be in possession of dangerous drugs, the Herald newspaper reported Tuesday.

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.

Source: https://www.independent.co.ug/nigerian-pastor-arrested-in-zimbabwe-for-allegedly-smuggling-2-33-kg-of-cocaine/