The Supreme Court of Seychelles has sentenced a Nigerian national to 11 years imprisonment for the importation of cocaine, the Anti-Narcotics Bureau (ANB) said on Sunday.
The ANB said that Peter Nwachukuwa, a 51-year-old Nigerian man, was handed down this sentence for importing 746 grammes of cocaine.
Nwachukuwa was arrested on June 7, after his arrival in Seychelles on an Ethiopian airline flight, by officers of the ANB.
According to a court report, the accused pleaded guilty to the offence and in his judgement, Justice Melchior Vidot also took the guilty plea into account and the fact that Nwachukuwa is a first-time offender.
The Nigerian is the third foreign national to be sentenced on a drug-related charge by the Supreme Court this year.
On May 19, a 52-year-old Tanzanian man was sentenced to nine years in prison for the importation of a controlled drug.
His sentence followed that of Elsie Esther Vambe, 45, a national from Zimbabwe. Vambe was sentenced to five years in prison for the importation and trafficking of 1.51kg of heroin and 503.70g of cocaine on March 31.
Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, has a zero-tolerance drug policy and has recently put in place several measures to combat the trafficking of illicit drugs on its shores.
Under the Seychelles’ Misuse of Drugs Act 2016, the maximum penalty for a controlled Class A drug is a term of life imprisonment and a fine of up to SCR 1 million ($78,800).
AUTHOR: Seychelles News Agency
