Nigerian national gets 10 yrs jail in drug peddling case

A 31-year-old Nigerian national, arrested in 2010 at the railway station here for possessing 1.5 kg heroin, has been sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by a Delhi court.
Special judge Deepak Garg also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on Amani Fidel Chris after convicting him for the offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and said that he be deported to his native country after completion of sentence.
"In view of the above, in my view, prosecution has been able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that on February 1, 2010 the accused (Chris) was found in possession of 1.5 kg of heroin in his stroller bag at platform number 12, New Delhi Railway Station, and hence he is convicted for the offence under section 21(c) of the NDPS Act," the judge said.

According to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), on October 15, 2009, they had received a secret information that a parcel was booked through a courier company for the US and it was suspected to contain narcotic drugs.
It said that on the basis of the information, a NCB team reached at the office of courier company here and during the probe, it was found that the parcel was booked by Nerisa Gurang of Kolkata for delivery to Keyla Fish in the US.
After the parcel was opened, 1.2 kg heroin was recovered, it said.

The NCB further said that later on February 1, 2010, they got another information that Chris was likely to travel to Kolkata and he was suspected to carry huge quantity of narcotic drug with him.

It said when the NCB team reached the New Delhi railway station, they checked the bag of Chris and 1.5 kg heroin was recovered from it.
It alleged that during interrogation, Chris confessed that he had sent the parcel to the US which was recovered by NCB.
During the trial, Chris denied the allegations levelled against him and claimed he was threatened by NCB officials.
The court, after going through the evidence brought on record, said that NCB has been able to prove that Chris was found in possession of the heroin which was recovered from his bag.
It, however, said that the prosecution has not been able to connect Chris with the recovery of contraband from the parcel bound for the US.