Million-dollar drug trial called off

The trial of a man accused of importing cocaine with a street value of more than $1 million has been called off over the admissibility of some evidence.

Justice Patricia Courtney discharged the jury at the High Court in Auckland and set a date for a new trial next month to allow the Crown to sort out some documents relating to the importing of the drugs.

Jumaa Omar Mbwala, 31, faced 26 charges of importing an estimated 2.5kg of cocaine.

He also denied a count of possessing the class A drug, and a representative charge of supplying it to a person or persons unknown between February and May last year.

His lawyer Hugh Leabourn said he opposed the adjournment of the trial for a new trial next month.

He said the admissibility of some documents which formed part of the Crown case was the reason for the trial being called off.

The documents related to parcels imported from Tanzania.

Mr Leabourn said the judge agreed to a new trial to give the Crown the opportunity of presenting the documents in an admissible form.

- NZPA