Two Brazillian and an American citizen has been charged with different offences of fraud and importations of 23.895 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria
While Justice Josephine Oyefeso of an Ikeja high court remanded American citizen Marco Antonio Ramirez in Kirikiri prison for allegedly defrauding Nigerians to the tune of $565,000, his Brazilian counterparts were convicted for bringing cocaine weighting 23.895 kilograms into Nigeria.
Lima Pereira Diego, and Dias Dos Santos Marcia Cristina were convicted by the Justice Cecilia Olatoregun led Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday
The Brazil nationals were earlier arraigned before the court on April 26, on a three-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful importation of narcotic pleaded guilty to the charges leveled against them by the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
The convicts who had earlier declined to take their plea, on the grounds that they do not have confidence in the interpretation of one Mr. Adeniran O provided by their country’s diplomatic service led to the adjournment of the sitting till yesterday.
At the resumed hearing yesterday, the prosecutor, Mr. Abu Ibrahim, told the court of the agency’s decision to withdraw the charge of conspiracy against the Brazilians. Consequently, they were arraigned on charge of unlawful importation of the said prohibited drug following which the court ordered the prosecution to review the facts of the case.
Following the pleading of their lawyer, the court adjourned till July 5 to pronounce sentence and ordered that they be remanded in Kirikiri Prison
