INTERNATIONAL STUDENT JAILED 30 YEARS, 12 WHIPPING FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

SHAH ALAM, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- The High Court here today sentenced a former student of a public university to 30 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane after finding him guilty of trafficking nearly 150 grams of cocaine into the country six years ago.

 Judge Datuk Seri Latifah Mohd Tahar handed down the sentence on a Nigerian, Ngoforo Ebube Gospel, 45, after finding the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubts against the prosecution’s case at the end of the defence case.

She ordered Ngoboro to serve the jail sentence from the date of arrest, which was Oct 25, 2019.

In the judgment, Latifah said, the argument that the accused did not know the contents of the bag (which contained the drug)  that was handed to him by another individual could not be accepted based on CCTV footage that showed there was an understanding between them. 

"The court was satisfied with the prosecution's argument that the accused had control and custody of the drug that was in the bag found in the accused's car when the arrest was made," she said.

Ngoforo was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act with trafficking 149.4 grams of cocaine at about 1.50 pm in a residential area in Petaling District on Oct 25, 2019.

He was jointly charged with committing the offence with another person, who has been acquitted and discharged of the offence at the end of the prosecution’s case.

Earlier, during mitigation, lawyer Afifudin Ahmad Hafifi, representing Ngoforo, said it was a first offence by his client, who is suffering from stomach.

He also said Ngoforo, who has a son, was studying for his Master’s Degree and was about to get married before he was arrested. 

"He also had cooperated with the police and has not shown any tendency of disruptive behaviour or a flight risk," he said. 

The prosecution, represented by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohammed Heikal Ismail, requested the court to consider the death penalty taking into account public interest and the seriousness of the offence.

-- BERNAMA