US nurse Bond Oji jailed for swallowing and importing cocaine via Melbourne airport
A US nurse – who worked at notorious New York City prison Rikers Island – swallowed and smuggled more than a kilo of cocaine via Melbourne airport in a “risky” plot that only unravelled after authorities spotted one tiny clue.
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A US nurse who worked at notorious New York City prison Rikers Island has been jailed after smuggling cocaine via Melbourne airport.
Bond Oji, 55, was sentenced in the County Court to a minimum four years and six months jail after pleading guilty to importing a marketable quantity of cocaine.
Oji was busted at the airport after arriving via an Air India flight from New Delhi on October 26 last year.
The US citizen told Australian Border Force officers he was in Melbourne for five days to attend the Australian Fitness and Health Expo.
Authorities became suspicious when Oji could not produce a ticket for the expo.
Officers seized two mobile phones, searched Oji’s luggage and hauled him into an interview room for a bodycheck.
Oji was then transported to the Royal Melbourne for a full body CT scan which revealed “foreign objects”.
Oji admitted he swallowed more than 100 pellets while in New Delhi about 20 hours before the scan.
He said it took him two hours to swallow the pellets but didn’t know what they contained.
Oji was placed a hospital room under guard while authorities played the waiting game.
It took 14 hours and multiple toilet trips for Oji to “pass” the 109 cocaine pellets from his body.
The cocaine weighed more than a kilo and was estimated to have a street value of $514,920.
Oji pleaded guilty at an early stage before his matter was kicked up to the County Court.
The court heard Oji, a New Jersey-based nurse, has held various nursing positions since 2006 including stints at Elmhurst hospital and Rikers Island, both in New York City.
Oji has also worked as a New York City cab driver.
He established a used car business importing vehicles to Africa and Europe which brought him into the drug-smuggling game.
The court heard Oji landed in money trouble so he did the Melbourne job to pay off a 17,500 Euro debt.
US Army veteran Lt Colonel James Okeke gave the court a reference on Oji’s behalf.
He said Oji was a “kind person” and the offending was “out of character”.
Oji’s lawyer submitted his client was just a “courier” and urged the court to accept he was not the “originator of the plan” or the “profit maker”.
It was also submitted ingesting cocaine was “risky”.
The prosecution submitted ingestion was one of the best ways to conceal and import cocaine.
Judge Susan Pullen said Oji would have known the risks considering his experience as a nurse.
“It was very risky behaviour to say the least …,” Judge Pullen said.
“You were prepared to undertake this activity which you knew was illegal for the money you were offered.
“Your role in this offending was integral to the plan to import cocaine into Australia.”
Oji was jailed for a maximum six years and six months.
He will be deported back to the US when he completes his sentence.
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