A 38-year-old South African woman, Jessica Ann, has been sentenced to 25 years in gaol by the Federal High Court in Abuja for unlawfully importing 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu handed down the sentence, after Ann pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and unlawful importation of the illicit drug.
Jessica was sentenced to 15 years on the first count and 25 years on the second count, with both terms to run concurrently. This means she would spend 25 years behind bars.
Ann was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on July 6 during the inward clearance of passengers arriving on Qatar Airways Flight QR1433 from Doha at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International
Airport, Abuja. She was travelling with her three-year-old son at the time.
Reports from the NDLEA, officers on duty discovered two suitcases containing 14 large blocks of heroin after matching the baggage tags to claim tags attached to Ann’s passport.
Ann initially denied travelling with checked-in luggage but later admitted that the bags belonged to her, saying she had forgotten that she had checked them in.
During proceedings, she expressed remorse and pleaded with the court for leniency, promising not to commit such an offence again. She also maintained that she was
unaware that the bags contained illicit drugs.
The court, however, noted that Ann had admitted to the
offence in her extrajudicial statement.
Justice Egwuatu stressed that the law must take its course
regardless of emotions, stating that “crime does not pay.”
The prosecution had urged the court to consider the
huge financial value of the seized heroin, which it estimated at about ₦18 million per kilogramme, when determining the
sentence.
The NDLEA also alleged that Ann was part of a transnational drug trafficking organisation allegedly operating
along the Cambodia-South Africa axis with her husband or partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager.
During her arraignment, Ann admitted conspiring with De Jager in connection with the offence.
The court further ordered that the seized heroin be destroyed if Ann does not appeal the judgment within the period prescribed by law.