Nigerians given life sentences

Alleged drug mules Okafor Iffeanyi Anthony (left) and Adibe Paschal are escorted out of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court after their hearing in April this year. Niem Chheng

Two Nigerian men were sentenced on Wednesday to life imprisonment and an approximately $10,000 fine for smuggling more than a kilogram of cocaine in one of the men’s stomach.

Y Rin, a spokesman for the municipal court, said yesterday that the sentence for the two men – Okafor Iffeanyi Anthony, 42, and Adibe Paschal, 33 – was based on Article 40 of the Anti-Drug Law.

“Based on the law, the court allows them to appeal the conviction,” Rin said.

Authorities examine capsules of cocaine seized from two Nigerian nationals who were arrested in May last year at Phnom Penh International Airport. Photo supplied

The two Nigerians were arrested in May 2016 for allegedly smuggling 1.27 kilograms in their stomachs from Nigeria to Vietnam via Dubai and then to Cambodia, where they were arrested.

Authorities suspected that they were bound for Pattaya in Thailand. Paschal previously denied knowledge of the drugs and had claimed that he had only gotten to know Anthony at the airport, which the latter corroborated.

Earlier this month, two drug traffickers Romanian national Varadi Adrian-Calin, 35, and Nigerian national Ibe Chukwuemeka, 40 – were sentenced to life in prison for smuggling cocaine from Brazil to Cambodia.

Contact author: Chhay Channyda

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