FORT WORTH, Texas – A Houston man convicted on a drug charge after trying to board a flight for London with 11 kilograms of cocaine is going to prison for nearly 13 years.

Federal prosecutors said U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means sentenced Julius Junior Ajah on Monday to 12 years and seven months in prison. Ajah, 31, had been convicted in June of one count of possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.

Authorities say they found about 11 kilograms of cocaine in three suitcases he checked for a flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to London in December. He told authorities that two drug dealers promised to pay off a $20,000 debt of his if he would carry the cocaine-laden suitcases to London.