{"id":14616,"date":"2025-05-25T18:34:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T18:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/?p=14616"},"modified":"2025-05-25T18:34:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T18:34:48","slug":"jailed-over-9-years-tonny-iheoma-ezeh-a-51-year-old-chronic-nigerian-fraudster-arrested-for-identity-theft-cocaine-smuggling-into-united-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/jailed-over-9-years-tonny-iheoma-ezeh-a-51-year-old-chronic-nigerian-fraudster-arrested-for-identity-theft-cocaine-smuggling-into-united-kingdom\/","title":{"rendered":"JAILED Over 9 Years: TONNY IHEOMA EZEH, a 51-year-old chronic Nigerian Fraudster arrested for Identity Theft, Cocaine Smuggling into United Kingdom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-14617\" src=\"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-Ezeh-London.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1057\" height=\"1427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-Ezeh-London.jpg 286w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-Ezeh-London-222x300.jpg 222w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1057px) 100vw, 1057px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>TONNY IHEOMA EZEH, a 51-year-old chronic Nigerian Fraudster arrested for Identity Theft, Cocaine Smuggling into United Kingdom<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>*Hides Class A Drugs in sweets into the UK for onward flights to Hong Kong<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>*Suspect holds Nigerian, Canadian, and Jamaican passports, fooled two German men to becoming drug mules<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>*Operates from a hideout in Mexico, organised drug shipments with other Nigerian contacts in Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>*\u201cTonny Ezeh is an extremely callous criminal. He and his crime group singled out and took advantage of elderly, vulnerable victims. He did not care at all about the trauma the men would experience when stopped, arrested and remanded in a foreign land. The NCA and partners at home and abroad continue to fight the threat of Class A drugs entering the UK&#8221;-NCA operations manager Peter Jones<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>*BY HABIB NURENI\/<em>ANTI-Drug Reporter, reporting LIVE from London<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14618\" src=\"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-six.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-six.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-six-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-six-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-six-860x484.jpg 860w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>THE END OF THE ROAD HAS COME A TOP NIGERIAN SCAMMER and drug trafficker. This 51-year-old Nigerian, Tonny Iheoma Ezeh, had been busted by the eagle-eye law enforcement officers representing the elite National Crime Agency, NCA, in the United Kingdom (UK) for smuggling Class A drugs into the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>This suspect who duped elderly victims &#8211; including an 80-year-old &#8211; into smuggling class A drugs has been jailed, following a National Crime Agency investigation.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezeh convinced innocent drugs mules they were entitled to huge, legitimate windfalls and they had to travel abroad to get paid.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Ezeh, who holds Nigerian, Canadian, and Jamaican passports, fooled two German men aged 80 and 67 into carrying Cocaine, Methamphetamine hidden in sweets into the UK for onward flights to Hong Kong.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The 67-year-old was stopped on 18 October last year and three days later the 80-year-old was stopped. Both had flown into Heathrow Airport and were each unwittingly carrying around 3kg of methamphetamine.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Both men were charged with smuggling class A drugs but the charges were dropped once investigators established that Ezeh had scammed the pair.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14619\" src=\"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-four.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2126\" height=\"1413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-four.jpg 2126w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-four-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-four-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-four-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-four-1536x1021.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-four-2048x1361.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-four-330x220.jpg 330w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-four-420x280.jpg 420w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-four-615x410.jpg 615w, https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Tonny-four-860x572.jpg 860w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2126px) 100vw, 2126px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>On 13 May Ezeh pleaded guilty to smuggling class A drugs when he appeared at Isleworth Crown Court. He was jailed for nine years and three months yesterday (Weds) afternoon.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezeh was based in Mexico where he organised drug shipments with other Nigerian contacts based internationally.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>His mobile phones revealed that he was part of a West African crime group responsible for transporting Class A drugs internationally via air passenger courier and fast parcels.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Elderly and vulnerable couriers were singled out and recruited via email finance scams.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ezeh\u2019s crime group told the victims they were the beneficiaries of large sums of money. To obtain the money-millions of Euros or dollars &#8211; they travelled to Mexico and signed fake paperwork and were given gifts of \u2018Elvan Chocolate Truffles\u2019. These were to be given to hosts in Hong Kong where the money would be paid to them.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>But before the men could catch connecting flights from the UK to Hong Kong, they were arrested by Border Force officers.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>NCA officers arrested Ezeh when he flew into the UK on 23 December last year.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>NCA operations manager Peter Jones said: \u201cTonny Ezeh is an extremely callous criminal. He and his crime group singled out and took advantage of elderly, vulnerable victims.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cHe didn\u2019t care at all about the trauma the men would experience when stopped, arrested and remanded in a foreign land.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cIf an offer is too good to be true, it very likely is and we urge anyone who is approached and asked to transport goods to think very carefully.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cThe NCA and partners at home and abroad continue to fight the threat of class A drugs entering the UK.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DONATE TO HELP BUILD A SPECIAL APPS FOR JOURNALISTS AGAINST LIVER ELEVATION &amp; KIDNEY FAILURE:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>CERTAINLY, Good journalism costs a lot of money. Without doubt, only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government. We are ready to hold every corrupt government accountable to the citizens. To continually enjoy free access to the best investigative journalism in Nigeria, we are requesting of you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavor.\u201d <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>By contributing to NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all without fear or favor. <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Your donation is voluntary \u2014 please decide how much and how often you want to give. For offline donation, email: letters@nigeriastandardnewspaper.com or call +2348037128048 (Nigeria) or +16825834890 (United States of America)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1 id='pf-form6349'>donation<\/h1><form version=\"4.0.5\" enctype=\"multipart\/form-data\" action=\"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" method=\"post\" class=\"paystack-form j-forms\" novalidate>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"j-row\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"action\" value=\"pff_paystack_submit_action\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"pf-id\" value=\"6349\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"pf-user_id\" value=\"0\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"pf-recur\" value=\"no\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"pf-currency\" id=\"pf-currency\" value=\"USD\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"pf-nonce\" name=\"pf-nonce\" value=\"2d7aacf99c\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14616\" \/><div class=\"span12 unit\">\n\t\t\t<label class=\"label\">Full Name <span>*<\/span><\/label>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"input\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"pf-fname\" placeholder=\"First &amp; Last Name\" value=\"\" required>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><div class=\"span12 unit\">\n\t\t\t<label class=\"label\">Email <span>*<\/span><\/label>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"input\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"email\" name=\"pf-pemail\" placeholder=\"Enter Email Address\" id=\"pf-email\" value=\"\"  required>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><div class=\"span12 unit\">\n\t\t\t<label class=\"label\">Amount (USD) <span>*<\/span><\/label>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"input\"><input type=\"number\" name=\"pf-amount\" class=\"pf-number\" value=\"0\"  id=\"pf-amount\" required \/><div style=\"color:red;\"><small id=\"pf-min-val-warn\"><\/small><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"span12 unit\">\n\t\t\t<label for=\"text-69f833318a1dc\" class=\"label\">Enter Phone Number<\/label>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"input\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" id=\"text-69f833318a1dc\" name=\"Enter Phone Number\" placeholder=\"Enter Phone Number\"  \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"span12 unit\">\n\t\t\t<small><span style=\"color: red;\">*<\/span> are compulsory<\/small>\n\t\t\t<br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-content\/plugins\/payment-forms-for-paystack\/\/assets\/images\/logos@2x.png\" alt=\"cardlogos\" class=\"paystack-cardlogos size-full wp-image-1096\" \/>\n\t\t\t<button type=\"reset\" class=\"secondary-btn\">Reset<\/button><button type=\"submit\" class=\"primary-btn\">Pay<\/button><\/div><\/div><\/form>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TONNY IHEOMA EZEH, a 51-year-old chronic Nigerian Fraudster arrested for Identity Theft, Cocaine Smuggling into United Kingdom *Hides Class A Drugs in sweets into the UK for onward flights to Hong Kong *Suspect holds Nigerian, Canadian, and Jamaican passports, fooled two German men to becoming drug mules *Operates from a hideout in Mexico, organised drug [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[129,159,26,44,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-14616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-featured","12":"tag-nigeria-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14620,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14616\/revisions\/14620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}