SHAH ALAM: A former university student has been sentenced to 30 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane after he was found guilty of trafficking nearly 150g of cocaine into Malaysia.
High Court Judge Datuk Seri Latifah Mohd Tahar handed down the sentence on the Nigerian, Ngoforo Ebube Gospel, 45, after finding the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt against the prosecution's case.
She ordered Ngoboro to serve the jail sentence from his date of arrest on Oct 25, 2019.
In her judgment, Latifah said the argument that the accused did not know the contents of the bag 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 149.4g of cocaine in a residential area in the Petaling district at about 1.50pm on Oct 25, 2019.
He was jointly charged with committing the offence with another person, who was acquitted and discharged of the offence at the end of the prosecution's case.
During mitigation, lawyer Afifudin Ahmad Hafifi who represented Ngoforo, said it was his client's first offence.
He also said Ngoforo was studying for his Master's Degree and was about to marry before he was arrested.
"He also cooperated with the police and has not shown any tendency of disruptive behaviour nor is he 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
