The Federal High Court in Asaba, Delta State, has sentenced nine drug traffickers, including four internationally-wanted Mexicans, to 10 years imprisonment each.
The Mexicans known to be part of a large cartel of drug traffickers with extensive reach around the world are Cervantos Bruno, Rivas Pstiano, Castillo Ctistobal and Patida Pedro. The deal, aimed at reducing the convicts’ jail time by the six years period they had spent in detention while facing trial, was to leave them with less than four years to spend in prison.Incensed by what he described as an “unreasonable”, “perverse” and “ill-motivated” plea bargain agreement, Mr Abang adopted the 10 years jail time proposed in the plea agreement but refused to backdate it.“I cannot in good conscience backdate the sentence,” the judge said.
He said the defendants were “caught in the act”, with their confessional statements and the illicit substances seized from them tendered and admitted in evidence. In another devastating blow to NDLEA’s growing profile of integrity and toughness on illicit drug trafficking, the judge identified many landed assets seized from the defendants but unaccounted for in the plea bargain agreement.
The five Nigerians had engaged the four Mexicans to help them to build, equip, and operate the laboratory. The well-equipped modern laboratory they helped to set up in Asaba was with an installed capacity to produce four tons of cocaine-like methamphetamine per production cycle of seven to eight hours.
The offences charged under sections 11, 14, 20 of the NDLEA Act attract punishment ranging from 15 to 25 years and forfeiture of the proceeds of crimes. Four of the eight witnesses who testified during the trial-within-trial were called by the defendants while the other four gave evidence for the prosecution.
He, therefore, said drug-related cases were not ones in which the NDLEA could enter into a plea agreement due to the impossibility of obtaining the consent of the victims for that purpose.
Nigerian Court Rebuked NDLEA for making a PreBargain Plea with Mexican and Foreign Drug Lords in Nigeria including Four Internationaly-Wanted and jailed the Drug Barons 10 yrs each
In a saner clime why would the prosecutor pleading for a plea bargain, when it should have allowed the Law of the land perform his judiciary responsibilities. Tell me cash don change hands, am not surprised this is happening.
More of these kind of judgements. I love judges that are firm and unwavering
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