A 41-year-old Canadian lady, Adrienne Munju, has been convicted and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
The foreigner was convicted for importing 74 parcels of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of synthetic cannabis weighing 35.20 kilograms, into Nigeria.
The spokesperson of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Femi Babafemi disclosed this via a statement on Wednesday.
Munju’s conviction followed her arraignment on two counts charge before Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of a Federal High Court, Lagos, by the NDLEA.
She was arrested at the terminal 1 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos on Thursday 3rd October 2024, during the inward clearance of inbound passengers on KLM flight at the ‘D’ Arrival Hall of the airport.
In her statement after her arrest, she claimed she was recruited to traffic the illicit consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successful delivery in Lagos.
According to Babfemi, “She said she took the offer because she needed the money to pay for her ongoing master’s degree program in Canada.
“Justice Dipeolu convicted and sentenced Muju to the term of imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to the charge preferred against her by NDLEA.
“Prosecuting Counsel, Barrister Abu Ibrahim, told the court that the illegal acts of the convict, contravened sections 20(1}(a) and 19 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act (NDLEA) Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under Section 20(2)(a) of the same Act.
“Following her guilty plea, the prosecutor called his witness, Angela Mba, an Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics narrated how the Canadian was arrested with the illicit drugs, after which she tendered some exhibits, which include: two suitcases that were used in concealing the drugs, her Canadian passport, confessional statements, laboratory test analysis reports and samples of the illicit drug. All the tendered exhibits were admitted as Exhibits 1 to 13.
“After the conclusion of the review of the facts of the crime, the prosecutor urged the court to convict the Canadian as charged based on the evidence placed before the court, the exhibits tendered and the guilty plea of the defendant. As a result, Justice Dipeolu after reviewing the facts of the case as submitted by Abu Ibrahim convicted the defendant as charged.
“After listening to the allocutus by the defendant’s counsel, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Adrienne Munju to six years imprisonment on count one and five years on count two.
“The judge however gave the convict an option of N50 million fine on each of the two counts, bringing the total fine to N100 million.”
