Ladipo Sanusi/
A Federal High Court, Lagos, on Thursday, convicted
Two Brazilians have been convicted at a Federal High Court in Lagos for bringing 23.895 kg of cocaine into Nigeria.
Lima Pereira Diego and Dias DOS Santos Marcia Cristina were convicted by Justice Cecilia Mojisola Olatoregun, after they pleaded guilty to the charges leveled against them by the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The convicts were earlier arraigned before the Court on April 26, on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy and unlawful importation of the said narcotic. They however declined to have their plea taken, on the ground that they did not have confidence in the interpreter, one Mr. Adeniran O, provided by their country’s diplomatic service.
Upon the objection raised against the interpreter and refusal to have their plea taken, the Court had adjourned June 22, for re-arraignment and plea taken.
At the resumed hearing of the matter, the prosecutor, Mr. Abu Ibrahim, informed the Court of the agency’s decision to withdraw the charge of conspiracy against the Brazilians. Consequently, they were arraigned on charge of unlawful importation of the said prohibited drug.
The offences, according to the prosecutor, are contrary to and punishable under section11(a) of the NDLEA Act Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Following their guilty plea, the court ordered the prosecution to review the facts of the case.
In reviewing the facts of the case, the prosecutor informed the Court that a Brazilian, Lima Pereira Diego, and his female counterpart, Marcia Cristina, were arrested by the NDLEA Operatives at the arrival Hall of Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on April 18, 2017, during an inward clearance of passengers of an Emirates Airlines flight from their country, Brazil, with 23.895 kilograms of cocaine.
Abu also told the court that, while Pereira Erick Diego, allegedly imported 14.495 kilograms of cocaine, Marcia Cristina was said to have imported 9.4 kilograms of the same.
The prosecutor also tendered the seized drugs, the convicts international passport, some foreign currencies, their confessional statements, reports of the test on the drugs, which were admitted by the Court as exhibits.
After giving the fact of case, the prosecutor urged the Court to convict them as charged.
The judge asked the convicts if they still wanted to plead guilty to the charge, and they insisted that they are guilty of the charge.
Consequently, the Judge pronounced them guilty as charged.
The Court was, however, handicapped in sentencing them, as their lawyer, Mr. Niyi Onifade, pleaded for an adjournment so that he could study the case file and know how to plead for their ‘allocutor’.
After the lawyer’s pleas, the Court adjourned till July 5, to pronounce sentence on the convicts.
The judge also ordered that the convicts be remanded in Kirikiri Prison pending the day.
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