Drug Trafficker Sentenced to Five Years Imprisonment for Attempting to Export Cocaine

Ariyibi Olaseinde, a 49-year-old drug trafficker, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment by the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Olaseinde was convicted and sentenced by Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy and illegal export of drugs filed against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

According to the prosecutor, Augustine Nwagu, Olaseinde was apprehended on February 20, 2023, at the Screening Hall of Terminal 11 of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos.

He was attempting to illegally export 11.5kg of cocaine to Saudi Arabia on a Qatar Airways flight to Medina via Doha.

The prosecutor informed the court that Olaseinde conspired with an accomplice named Jeleel Badmus, who is currently at large.

During the interrogation, Olaseinde confessed that he had been commissioned by Badmus to traffic the banned substance in exchange for a promised payment of $1,500.

He had already received $300 as part of the agreed amount.

The prosecutor stated that the convict’s actions violated Sections 14(b) and 11(b) of the NDLEA Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation 2004.

After the charges were read to him, Olaseinde pleaded guilty. Nwagu urged the court to convict and sentence him in accordance with the relevant sections of the NDLEA Act.

Olaseinde’s defense lawyer, Lilian Omotunde, pleaded for leniency, asking the court to consider mercy in sentencing her client.

In his ruling, Justice Aneke sentenced Olaseinde to five years imprisonment. However, the judge ordered him to pay a fine of N5 million in lieu of the jail term.

Olaseinde was instructed to perform 150 hours of community service. The judge also ordered the forfeiture of the convict’s two passports and the $300 found in his possession to the Federal government.