A FEDERAL High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has sentenced a South American man from Suriname, Dadda Lorenzo Harvy Albert, to 13 years in prison for drug trafficking.
The ICIR reported that operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested 34-year-old Lorenzo at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for bringing into Nigeria 117 parcels of cocaine concealed in extra-large latex condoms packed inside bottles of 100ml body spray.
His arrest was announced in a statement by the spokesperson of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, April 9.
Read Also:
- Court jails man, 25 for illegal possession of Indian hemp, illicit drugs
- Police arrest 43 youths over attack on station, immigration post in Katsina
- NNPC would not be scrapped but commercialised says Sylva, Petroleum Minister
- COVID-19: Kwara Govt arranges N135m loans for private schools
- Labour retreats to strike another day
According to the NDLEA, “The suspect claimed he departed his country, Suriname, located in the North Eastern coast of South America on April 2 for Sao Paulo, Brazil and from Sao Paulo, he came to Nigeria on Friday, April 7, on board a Qatar Airways flight in search of his long-lost Nigerian father whom he called Omini.”
He was arraigned before the Federal High Court 2, Port Harcourt, on June 1 on two counts of importation and unlawful possession of 9.9kgs cocaine in charge number FHC/PH/181C/23.
He, however, pleaded guilty to the two-count charge. But after the 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.
In his ruling, the judge, E. A Obile declared, “You, Dadda Lorenzo Harvy Albert, is hereby sentenced to 13 years imprisonment without option of fine on Counts 1 and 2 also. And both shall run concurrently.”
The trial judge also ordered the forfeiture of the sum of ninety United States Dollars and ten Brazilian Real recovered from the convict at the time of his arrest to the Federal Government.
The court equally refused the application by Lorenzo’s Counsel for him to be deported back to his country.
As a result, the convict is now serving his term of imprisonment at the Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
NDLEA, in a statement by its spokesperson Femi Babafemi on Wednesday, August 2, said the successful prosecution and conviction of Lorenzo is one of the many drug cases concluded at the Federal High Court across the country between January and June 2023 by the Directorate of Prosecution and Legal Services of NDLEA.
“Out of the 1,445 convicts, 221 of them are female, while the balance of 1,541 are male.
“Of the 11,166 pending cases, 10,626 of them are men while the rest, 540 are women,” the Agency stated.
The anti-narcotics agency added that the 1,445 convicts and 11,166 suspects who are still facing trial were arrested and charged to court over the seizure of 555,953.70 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis, tramadol and others linked to them between January and June 2023.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance