Nigerian dealer brought 2,500 kg of drugs disguised as green tea into Hungary
Office of the General Prosecutor reported that one Nigerian and one Somalian man have recently been charged with illegal drug possession with the intent to sell, 24.hu reports. Between 2015 and 2016, two men smuggled tonnes of drugs from Kenya to Budapest.
We have already reported that in 2016, one tonne of khat (disguised as green tea) was confiscated at Budapest Airport. Police started the investigation, and the men responsible have recently been charged.
Khat is a flowering plant native to Africa. It contains alkaloid cathinone, a stimulant which is said to cause excitement, loss of appetite and euphoria. It was identified as a drug of abuse that can produce psychological dependence by WHO in 1980.
The primary defendant is a Nigerian citizen who was living in Hungary, working as the manager of a Hungarian company that ordered the khat disguised as green tea several times between 2015 December and 2016 April. The narcotics came from Nairobi to Budapest, and the company also managed their customs clearance.
The Nigerian man brought a total of 2500 kg of narcotics into the country on approximately 12 occasions. Besides Hungary, they were distributing khat in Austria, Denmark and the United Kingdom as well.
In the UK, a British citizen from Somalia was responsible for the distribution. He is the co-defendant. Supposedly, he was the one giving orders to the primary defendant.
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The two men were initially working together with a Hungarian haulage company that was not aware of the real content of the shipment. The Hungarian haulage company that was working with the men was busted twice in 2016 when British and Danish authorities found and identified the drugs in their cargo.
However, the dealers suspected that the haulage company diverted the shipment on purpose, and they decided to handle the transportation by themselves.
The Nigerian man went to Budapest Airport to pick up the current shipment, and he was supposed to transport the 134 kg by himself by using a rented truck.
However, the Nigerian man did not have enough money for customs, and he had to leave the airport. He went back to the airport the next day with the money, but by the time he got to the airport to pick up the shipment, Hungarian police had already confiscated the 16 cartons of khat, and both the Nigerian and the Somalian man were charged.
The men were charged with possessing large quantities of illegal drugs with the intent to sell. In Hungary, they may even be sentenced for life for these crimes.
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Source: www.24.hu