Crime

Woman jailed for trying to traffic cocaine at KIA

The High Court in Accra has sentenced a Liberian woman to 10 years imprisonment in hard labour for attempting to traffic cocaine,  a narcotic drug, through the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), to Bangkok, Thailand.

The court presided over by Justice Mary Ekua Yanzuh also imposed GH¢ 120,000 (10, 000 penalty units and one penalty unit is G¢12) on her or in default, she would serve three years additional term.

Ms Wolo Maikplay Margaret pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted exportation and possession of a narcotic drug without a Minister of Health license, which violates sections 36 and 37 of the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019), respectively.

The presiding judge found her guilty on her own plea on each count to run concurrently.

Ms Margaret was apprehended by Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) officers on May 14, this year, while transiting through the KIA from Monrovia, Liberia, to Bangkok-Thailand on board Qatar Airways.

A total 30 pellets containing cocaine weighing 277.2101 grams were retrieved from beneath her breast and private part when NACOC officials conducted a physical search on her.

Francis Opoku Amoah, Acting Director of Public Affairs and International Relations Department of the NACOC, said officials of the Commission received a tip-off from a sister security agency at KIA, leading to the retrieval of the pellets of cocaine.

The Commission emphasised that “the possession and attempted transportation of narcotic drugs is illegal and punishable under domestic law,” he said.

Mr Amoah also assured the public of its continuous commitment to reducing to the barest minimum, the influx and smuggling of all types of narcotic drugs, through collaboration with the relevant stakeholders. – GNA

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