Justice J.K Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Sokoto, has sentenced a 35 year-old Indian, Kypak Nuttal, to two years in prison with an option of N3 million fine for smuggling a trailer load of Codeine syrup into the country.
Nuttal who resides in Tamaje area of Sokoto North local government area was arrested with cartons of the drug suspected to be counterfeit substance.
Testifying before the court, an officer of the Sokoto Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Malam Mustapha, said the defendant was arrested on February 12, 2022 with 1,647 cartons of the substance suspected to be codeine syrup with other suspects still at-large.
The NDLEA maintained that a sample of the substance which weighed 13,403kg was taken to Lagos state for laboratory test and was confirmed to be Codeine.
Mustapha also stated that the consignment was transported in a truck from Cotonou enroute Niger Republic and was intercepted in Sokoto.
In his judgement, Justice J.K.Omotosho recommended to the federal government to destroy the seized syrup while items owned by the defendant in custody of the NDLEA should be returned to him.
Accordingly, Justice Omotosho announced a two-year sentence with an option of N3 million fine to be paid by the defendant within 48 hours into the federal government account.
Furthermore, failure on the part of the defendant to pay the fine within the time given as directed by the court, may warrant the forfeiture of N10 million deposited before the end of the court case.
Meanwhile, the travel passport and business documents of the defendant were seized by the court pending the perfection of payment of the fine.
