Nigerian gets jail term for possessing cocaine

A Nigerian national, who entered India allegedly on fake travel documents, was on Friday sentenced to two years jail term by a Delhi court for possessing over three grams of contraband cocaine.

A Nigerian national, who entered India allegedly on fake travel documents, was today sentenced to two years jail term by a Delhi court for possessing over three grams of contraband cocaine.

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Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on convict Albert Mashaba Bernard under a provision of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act for possessing the contraband.

The convict, who was found living in a locality in south Delhi on fake travel documents, was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on June seven, 2006, minutes before he was to deliver 22 grams of cocaine to a customer.

Albert, however, got away with lighter punishment as the purity of the recovered contraband was 14 per cent which brought down the actual quantity of it to over three grams.

"After the forensic examination, the actual quantity of cocaine comes to 3.14 grams which is less than the commercial quantity," the court said.

The NCB, which had got a tip off about the suspicious movement of the convict, had laid a trap near Qutub Hotel and apprehended him.

The Nigerian national sought leniency on the ground that he was framed and had come to India to explore business opportunities in garment sector.