39-year-old Nigerian man identified as Saira Kuze Madhubuchi, has been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for smuggling heroin into Mohali, India in 2018.
According to Hindustan Times, a court of additional district and sessions judge Harjit Kaur Kaleke last Thursday also slapped a fine of ₹1 lakh (about N41.5 million) on the convict, who will undergo imprisonment for another one year if the fine is not paid.
The case files revealed that in August 2018, the special task force (STF) of Mohali police received a tip-off that a man would be entering Mohali with heroin.
An STF team, led by sub-inspector Ram Darshan, under the supervision of assistant inspector general Rajinder Singh Sohal, laid a ‘naka’ (checkpoint) near Dara Studio in Phase 6, where they spotted Madhubuchi and stopped him after looking suspicious.
On frisking him, the police team recovered 260 gm of heroin from his possession.
Through further probe, they found that the Nigerian national came to India on a business visa in 2015, and sold readymade garments and cosmetics in Delhi, but started smuggling drugs business after his visa expired in 2017.