A convicted drug courier yesterday told jurors that a man charged with importing drugs was part of an operation in which he swallowed almost a kilo of heroin to bring to Malta.

Testifying on the second day of the drug importation trial, Efosa Efionayi, 28, from Spain, said he knew the accused, Augustine Onuchukwu, 46 – a Nigerian who holds American citizenship and is also known as Fat Boy – because he met him before coming to Malta twice.

He said he had met a man, only named as Sam, in Rotterdam and was offered some €3,000 to carry drugs to Malta in his stomach. He said he told Sam he was afraid to do something like that. Sam bought him a ticket to Malta to get a feeling for the surroundings at the airport so that when the actual drug run was made he would feel at ease, the witness said.

For the familiarisation trip, he was told to catch a plane to Brussels on April 14 where he would meet a man only described as fat. That person would be carrying drugs and would fly on the same flight to Malta.

Once at the airport, Mr Efionayi met the accused and asked him whether he knew Sam, to which the accused answered he did.

He then asked the accused if he was carrying drugs and Mr Onuchukwu ordered him to stop talking about this and only to mention it once they landed in Malta and met Sam’s brother Ali.

Once in Malta, Ali picked him up and took him to a flat where the accused turned up later and plans were made to make the drug run a week later, when the men were arrested.

The case continues.

Lawyer Aaron Bugeja, from the Attorney General’s Office, prosecuted.

Lawyer Joe Mifsud (former Malta Football Association president) represented the accused.