Drug Trafficker Jailed 25 Years

A Federal High Court in Lagos presided over by Justice Deinde Isaac Dipeolu has sentenced a drug trafficker, Carr Bismark, to 25 years imprisonment.

The judge arrived at the decision after finding the drug baron guilty of involvement in the unlawful exportation of 889 grams of cocaine.

Also known as Ogbonna Charles Freeman, the convict, was slammed with the jail term after pleading guilty to a count charge of the offence, made against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

In arraigning Bismarck, the counsel for the NDLEA, Abu Ibrahim, told Justice Dipeolu that the convict was arrested with the prohibited substance, which he attempted to export unlawfully on March 31, 2024, at Screening 2 of the New Terminal, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight to India, via Doha, United Arab Emirates, UAE.

The lawyer told the judge that the illegal act of the convict contravened Section 20(1) (a) and punishable under Section 20(2)(a) of the NDLEA Act, Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

Bismark pleaded guilty to the charge when the same was read to him, following which the NDLEA lawyer sought for a review of the facts of the charge, while also tendering exhibits to prove his case.

After reviewing the facts of the charge and tendering the exhibits which were admitted by the court, the prosecutor urged the court to convict and sentence the defendant in accordance with the section of the law he was charged with.

Responding, defence lawyer, Dennis Warri, in his plea for leniency, urged the court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing his client.

Warri equally urged the judge to use his discretion and grant his client a non-custodial sentence or an option of a fine in lieu of the jail term.

In his verdict, Justice Dipeolu declared that the section of the NDLEA Act upon which the convict was charged with is life imprisonment, just as the court sentenced him to 25 years imprisonment without a fine option.

The charge against the convict reads: “That you, Carr Bismark a.k.a. Ogbonna Charles Freeman, male, adult on or about the 31st March 2024 during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight to India, via Doha, United Arab Emirates at Screening 2 of the New Terminal, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja-Lagos, without lawful authority exported 889 grams of Cocaine, a Narcotic Drug and you thereby committed an act which is an offence contrary to Section 20 (1) (a) and punishable under Section 20 (2) (a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”