Nigerian in court over crack cocaine in shoes

A NIGERIAN national is facing a drug-dealing charge in Namibia after being arrested at the end of a bus journey from South Africa with an alleged collection of pieces of crack cocaine in his luggage.

Nigerian Francis Ogwu (39) was arrested in Windhoek on Saturday after arriving in the city on a bus from South Africa.A Police spokesperson, Constable Pendukeni Haikali, said yesterday that Ogwu had travelled from Johannesburg. On his arrival in Windhoek, Police officers thought he looked suspicious and decided to search his luggage, she said.In the luggage, they found a plastic bag containing shoes, and inside the shoes, which were partly hollowed out, they discovered 26 ‘halfmoon’ pieces of cocaine, Haikali said. A ‘halfmoon’ is a wedge-like shape in which crack cocaine is solidified before it can be broken into smaller pieces, in which form it is normally sold to users of the drug.The crack allegedly found in Ogwu’s possession is valued at about N$42 000, Haikali said.Ogwu made a first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on a charge of dealing in cocaine on Monday.His case was postponed to September 25 and he was remanded in custody.Two residents of Gobabis also appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday after they were allegedly caught on Sunday transporting dagga in two cars that were stopped by the Windhoek City Police on Windhoek’s Nelson Mandela Avenue.Walburga Ditshabue (31) is alleged to have had 18 kilograms of dagga in her possession.The other suspect, Mwina Johannes Ihemba, allegedly had four kilograms of cannabis, valued at about N$12 000, with him.The cases of Ditshabue and Ihemba were postponed to November 5 for further investigation.Both have been granted bail. werner@namibian.com.na