United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

MAN SENTENCED TO NEARLY 13 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON, WITHOUT PAROLE,
FOR TRYING TO BOARD A FLIGHT TO LONDON
FROM DFW AIRPORT WITH 11 KILOGRAMS OF COCAINE

FORT WORTH, Texas — A man who tried to board a flight to London from DFW with 11 kilograms of cocaine, was sentenced today in federal court in Fort Worth. Julius Junior Ajah, 31, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means to 151 months in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Ajah was convicted at trial in June and has been in custody since his arrest in December 2007.

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 at trial 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 was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer.

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