SHAH ALAM, Oct 29 — The High Court has sentenced a public university's former student to 30 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane after finding him guilty of trafficking nearly 150g of cocaine into Malaysia six years ago.
Judge Datuk Seri Latifah Mohd Tahar handed down the sentence on Nigerian national Ngoforo Ebube Gospel, 45, after finding the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubts against the prosecution’s case at the end of the defence case.
She ordered the accused to serve the jail sentence from his arrest date of October 25, 2019.
In the judgment, Judge Latifah said the argument that the accused did not know the contents of the bag (which contained the drug) that was handed to him by another individual could not be accepted, based on CCTV footage which 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 1952 with trafficking 149.4g of cocaine at 1.50pm in a residential area in Petaling district on October 25, 2019.
He was jointly charged with committing the offence with another person, who has been acquitted and discharged of the offence at the end of the prosecution’s case.
Earlier, during mitigation, lawyer Afifudin Ahmad Hafifi, representing the accused, said it was a first offence by his client, who is suffering from stomach.
He added that Ngoforo, who has a son, was studying for his master’s degree and was about to get married before he was arrested.
"He also had cooperated with the police and has not shown any tendency of disruptive behaviour or a flight risk," Afifudin said.
The prosecution, represented by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohammed Heikal Ismail, requested the court consider the death penalty, taking into account the public interest and the seriousness of the offence.
— Bernama
