United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

JURY CONVICTS MAN TRYING TO BOARD BRITISH AIRWAYS FLIGHT TO
LONDON FROM DFW AIRPORT WITH 11 KILOGRAMS OF COCAINE

Defendant Faces Up to Life in Prison

FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal jury in Fort Worth has convicted Julius Junior Ajah, 31, of Houston, Texas, on an indictment charging him with one count of possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Ajah faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison and a $4,000,000 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means on September 29, 2008. Ajah has been in custody since his arrest in December 2007.

The government presented evidence at trial that Ajah arrived at DFW airport on December 19, 2007, to board a British Airways flight to London. He checked three suitcases in which Customs officers discovered approximately 11 kilograms of cocaine. Ajah was interviewed at the airport by a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, and stated that two men whom he knew were drug dealers promised to pay off a $20,000 debt he had incurred if he would take the bags to London for them. Once in London, Ajah planned to hand the bags back over to one of the men who was traveling to London on a separate flight. Testimony from an ICE Agent established that the cocaine that Ajah was carrying could be sold in London for over half a million dollars.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of U.S. Customs and ICE. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer.

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