A 34-year-old South American man from Suriname, Dadda Lorenzo Harvy Albert, who was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers State, for bringing into Nigeria 117 parcels of cocaine concealed in latex condoms packed inside bottles of body spray has been convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Wednesday in Abuja in a statement, said that Albert was arraigned before Justice E. A. Obile of the Federal High Court 2, Port Harcourt, on June 1, on two counts of importation and unlawful possession of 9.9kg cocaine.
He said the defendant pleaded guilty to the charges and that after a review of the facts of the case on Thursday, July 20, he was convicted and sentenced to 13 years imprisonment on both counts without an option of fine.
The statement quoted Justice Obile: “You Dadda Lorenzo Harvy Albert is hereby sentenced to 13 years imprisonment without option of fine on count 1 and count 2 and both shall run concurrently.”
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The judge also ordered the forfeiture of the sum of $90 and 10 Brazilian Real recovered from the convict at the time of his arrest to the federal government.
Babafemi added that the convict claimed he departed Suriname on April 2, for São Paulo, Brazil, and from there to Nigeria on Friday, April 7, 2023, aboard a Qatar Airways flight in search of his long-lost Nigerian father whom he called Omini.
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