Nigerian man who allegedly imported $10m worth of drugs in statues faces life term imprisonment in Australia

A Nigerian man accused of importing about $10 million worth of methamphetamine hidden inside a gold fish statue will stand trial in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Supreme Court in September. He is facing a term of life imprisonment. 33-year-old Jackson Igwebuike, who was in Canberra on a student visa, was caught in a sting last year after Australian Border Force officers intercepted packages containing three 20 kilogram statues headed for the capital.

One of the statues allegedly contained 10 kilograms of the drug ice.Officers swapped the illicit substance with a fake alternative, and sent the package on to Kaleen, where it was allegedly picked up by Igwebuike and taken to a second address in the same suburb.

He was arrested attempting to board a bus at the Jolimont Centre. He was allegedly planning to travel to Sydney, and had packages in his possession that police say were removed from the statue. Police found similar packaging and statues upon raiding the second address in Kaleen. Magistrate Glenn Theakston committed Igwebuike to the Supreme Court for trial on Thursday, August 25th.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges of attempting to import or export a commercial quantity of drugs. Igwebuike remained in custody and is due to appear in the Supreme Court in September.