Female pilgrim who was caught with cocaine gets 10 years

isaac dachen

February 28, 2017 2:58 PM

A female Muslim pilgrim who was caught with 76 pellets of cocaine while travelling to Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour.

The convicted drug trafficker, Binuayo Basirat Iyabo

A 55-year-old female pilgrim

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The convict, Binuayo Basirat Iyabo, according to Daily Trust, a married mother of three, was caught in September of 2016 during a check out of passengers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) while smuggling 76 pellets of the drugs she had ingested.

According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Iyabo, a trader at the Dosunmu Market in Lagos State had reportedly tested positive to narcotic ingestion and while on observation, she excreted the 76 pellets of cocaine.

The NDLEA commander at the Abuja airport, Hamisu Lawan, said the convicts, in her statement, agreed to smuggle the drugs for a fee.

“I wanted to expand my cosmetic business but I have no money. My sponsor offered to foot my expenses to Saudi on pilgrimage.

I was excited until I was asked to take drugs along. I wanted to decline but considering the offer of N1 million, I accepted,” she was reported to have said.

In sentencing her after she was found guilty, Justice B.O. Quadri of the Federal High Court, Abuja, said her sentence would serve as a deterrent to other drug smugglers who hide under the pretext of going on holy pilgrimages to commit crimes and dent the image of the country.

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Justice Quadri said the hard labour was added to the sentence because the convict failed to reveal the identity of her sponsors.

isaac dachen