By Felix Kuyinu
A drug dealer, Taiwo Anuoluwapo, has been apprehended by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for smuggling an illicit drug.
Anuoluwapo was arrested on February 17, 2024, at Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos by the drug law agency.
On Tuesday, At the Federal High Court in Lagos where the offender was arrainged alongside a freight forwarder, Babalola Gboyega, the NDLEA accused the duo of smuggling 23.3 kilogrammes of a synthetic strain of cannabis sativa, popularly called Canadian loud, concealed in loudspeakers brought to Nigeria.
During the first arraingement on three counts of conspiracy and unlawful possession of cannabis sativa, preferred against them, Anuoluwapo admitted to committing the offences, but the second defendant, Gboyega denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following their pleas, Justice Akintayo Aluko adjourned the case until Tuesday for review of facts and hearing of the bail application of the freight agent.
At the resumed hearing, the NDLEA prosecutor, Abu Ibrahim, informed the judge that the convict conspired with a drug dealer simply identified as Pappy, based in the United States of America and Kim in Canada to commit the offences.
Ibrahim tendered both the bulk of the seized drug and samples taken to the laboratory to confirm its authenticity, as well as the convict’s confessional statements, which were admitted by the court. He then urged the court to sentence the offender in accordance with the sections of the NDLEA Act he was charged with.
However, the convict’s lawyer, Dennis Warri, in his plea for mercy, told the court that the convict was a first-time offender with no previous conviction record, adding that he had learned his lesson, and also confided in him that he would desist from further commiting the crime.
Warri appealed to the court to consider a non-custodial sentence in lieu of imprisonment, citing relevant sections of the law.
The judge sentenced the convict to five years imprisonment but ordered him to pay a fine of N1.5m in lieu of the jail term, and granted Gboyega, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, bail in the sum of N10m, with one surety in like sum.
The judge stipulated that the surety could be a civil servant on grade level 14 and above or an owner of a plot of land with necessary documents within the court’s jurisdiction. He also ordered that the surety must have a permanent residence in Lagos with an affidavit of means.
He adjourned the trial of the freight agent to June 13, 2024.
