A Nigerian man based in Brazil, Ernest Nnajuiba Ukechukwu, has been sentenced to ten years imprisonment by a High Court in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, for dealing in cocaine.
He was also fined GH¢120,000 and will serve three additional years in default as the sentence is expected to run concurrently.
Ukechukwu was accused of possessing and attempting to smuggle cocaine into Ghana through the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Accra.
He was arrested on December 11, 2022, by officials of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) in Ghana at the arrival hall of the airport when he was going through arrival formalities.
Uchechukwu was suspected by the airport officials to be a drug dealer, and a check on his luggage revealed cocaine weighing almost 17 grams.
He was thereafter charged with six counts of narcotic offences relating to the importation and possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority.
Appearing before the court, presided over by Mary Ekue Yanzuh, Uchechukwu pleaded guilty to all six counts and was convicted on his plea on Thursday, July 13, 2023.
The court ordered the destruction of the exhibit (cocaine), which was carried out the same day by investigators of NACOC in the presence of the Court Registrar, state prosecutors, and the defence counsel.
