A Nigerian man, Kayode Lawrence, was
sentenced to nearly 25-years in prison on Tuesday, 30 September, after pleading
guilty to conspiracy to import a controlled substance.
Lawrence, who is believed to have run one of the most expansive heroin smuggling networks ever uncovered in Houston’s main airport, was sentenced in a Houston federal courtroom.
The case commenced in February 2001 when two men working for Lawrence were arrested at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The arrested pair had swallowed packets of heroin being smuggled from Nigeria.
He led a Lagos Island-based trafficking organization that used high-school and college-aged Americans to swallow dozens of rubberized capsules full of heroin in order to sneak them into the United States while aboard commercial plane flights.
Prosecutors say the 45-year-old Lawrence mainly recruited college students with dual US and Nigerian citizenship for his smuggling ring. Court testimony revealed that Lawrence personally evaluated “swallowers” to see whether they had the stomachs for the business, according to court papers and testimony.
He fought extradition for nearly 10 years but was transferred to the US in late 2013.
Lawrence, who is believed to have run one of the most expansive heroin smuggling networks ever uncovered in Houston’s main airport, was sentenced in a Houston federal courtroom.
The case commenced in February 2001 when two men working for Lawrence were arrested at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The arrested pair had swallowed packets of heroin being smuggled from Nigeria.
He led a Lagos Island-based trafficking organization that used high-school and college-aged Americans to swallow dozens of rubberized capsules full of heroin in order to sneak them into the United States while aboard commercial plane flights.
Prosecutors say the 45-year-old Lawrence mainly recruited college students with dual US and Nigerian citizenship for his smuggling ring. Court testimony revealed that Lawrence personally evaluated “swallowers” to see whether they had the stomachs for the business, according to court papers and testimony.
He fought extradition for nearly 10 years but was transferred to the US in late 2013.
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