Agent jailed 5 years for exporting drugs

A 55-year-old freight agent, Oyeyemi Abiodun Sharafadeen, has been sentenced to five years in prison by a Lagos Federal High Court for exporting banned drugs.

Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke sentenced the defendant after he pleaded guilty to a three-count charge bordering on unlawful export of the banned substances made against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Earlier, NDLEA’s prosecutor, Augustine Nwagu, told the court that the defendant was arrested on January 9, 2023, with the banned substances which he intended to export to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Nwagu listed 900g of tramadol, 100g of Rohypnol and some grammes of Ecstasy; all psychotropic substances similar to heroin and cocaine, which the convict was arrested with.

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But the convict’s lawyer, Uche Okoronkwo, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing his client, urging the court to consider the convict’s timely guilty plea without wasting the precious time of the court.

Uche told the court that the convict in December, 2022, in the course of his business, a package was given to him by a customer for onward movement to Dubai, but that he did not know the content.

Justice Aneke sentenced the convict to five years in prison on each of the counts, but however gave him an option of N5m fine in lieu of the jail terms and also ordered him to perform a 100-day community service.