Nigerian sentenced to 6 years for smuggling and smoking cannabis

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A Nigerian national has been given a prison sentence for smuggling cannabis into South Korea from Thailand and smoking the banned substance, a court announced Wednesday.

The Incheon District Court said it imposed a jail term of six years on the 44-year-old Nigerian, whose name was withheld, on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act.

The Nigerian was indicted for smuggling 6.7 kilograms of cannabis in three separate international express mail packages from Thailand through Incheon International Airport between February and August last year.

The Nigerian was also accused of smoking cannabis at a bar in the central Seoul district of Yongsan in August last year.

The suspect has denied the charges in court trials, saying he had received a request from an acquaintance to pick up some luggage.

But the court rejected his claim, noting that all contact information written on the imported cargo was the mobile phone number used by him. (Yonhap)