A Federal High Court in Lagos State has convicted and sentenced a 49-year-old businessman, Celestino Kingsley, aka Okafor Kingsley Ikenna, to six years imprisonment for illegally exporting 9.40kg of cocaine.
Justice Daniel Osiagor handed down the jail term on Wednesday after Kingsley admitted committing the offence and pleaded guilty to the charge.
The convict was arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on two counts of conspiracy and the unlawful export of the banned substance in a charge marked FHC/L/196c/2023.
The prosecutor, Augustine Nwagu, told the court that the convict, sometime in March, conspired with one Chibuzor Okoye, who was said to be on the run, to commit the offence.
The prosecutor told the court that the convict was arrested on March 4, 2023, during the outward clearance of passengers of a Qatar Airways flight to India via Doha, at the new terminal 11 of the Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
According to the prosecutor, the offence committed is contrary to and punishable under Sections 14(b) and 11(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement A. Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The convict pleaded guilty to the charges, and following his guilty plea, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence him according to the sections of the NDLEA Act he was charged with.
Source: https://punchng.com/businessman-jailed-six-years-for-smuggling-cocaine/
Sean Hocking
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