Nigerian gets minimum sentence for dealing in narcotics

Accra, March 27, GNA - An Accra Regional Tribunal on Tuesday sentenced a Nigerian to 10 years' imprisonment for attempting to export 886.702 grams of cocaine out of the country.

The Tribunal, chaired by Mr Justice Frank Manu handed over this minimum sentence for narcotic offences to the convict, when Titus Igwe Uwakwe changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. Sometime this year, Uwakwe was brought before the Tribunal for attempting to export the cocaine to London.

According to the Prosecution, the Convict went to the Kotoka International Airport on May 19 2006 to board a Ghana International Airlines Flight to London.

The Prosecution stated that on observation, security personnel on duty at the Airport escorted accused to the 37th Military Hospital where he was subjected to an x-ray examination. The Prosecution said the Convict expelled 64 pellets of the substance, and upon interrogation, mentioned one Michael and his wife Wendy as those who gave the stuff to him to be delivered to somebody in London for a fee of 2,000 pounds.

According to the Prosecution, Uwakwe could not lead the Police to arrest his suppliers, and so after an analytical examination of the substance at the Ghana Standards Board, he was charged with the offence.