It took five hours and four minutes, but a suspected drug trafficker finally surrendered the spoils: 85 condoms of cocaine he allegedly swallowed and intended to smuggle from Houston to France.
Housrou Kedji is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Friday after being caught as he tried to board an Air France flight leaving Bush Intercontinental Airport. He is charged with two counts of drug-trafficking.
The 42-year-old citizen of the African nation of Togo gave up 2.2 pounds of his illicit cargo while sitting on a special no-flow toilet under the eyes of federal agents and doctors at a local hospital.
Kedji's undoing apparently began when tried to board the Flight 639 four weeks ago.
He was so nervous he drew the attention of Customs and Border Protection inspectors questioning travelers, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.
The night of his arrest, Kedji's hands were shaking, his heart was racing, and he gave conflicting stories of what he'd been up to while visiting Houston, the affidavit says.
He supposedly confessed that he had traveled to Houston from Togo, and was headed to Switzerland. His pay for the job was to be 5,000 Euros, or nearly $6,500.
The cocaine was parceled into packets of a few grams apiece and wrapped in the condoms. Suspicions were confirmed by a hospital X-ray machine
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