A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced 41-year-old Canadian national Adrienne Munju to 11 years in prison for importing 74 parcels of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of synthetic cannabis, into Nigeria.
The drug, weighing a total of 35.20 kilograms, was intercepted by authorities earlier this month.
Munju’s conviction came after her arrest by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on October 3, 2024, at Terminal 1 of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos.
She was apprehended during the routine clearance of passengers arriving on a KLM flight at the airport’s ‘D’ Arrival Hall.
During her court appearance on Wednesday, Munju faced a two-count charge related to drug trafficking.
She pleaded guilty to both counts, leading to her conviction and sentencing.
In a ruling by Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, she was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
After considering the allocutus presented by the defendant’s counsel, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Munju to six years imprisonment on count one and five years on count two.
However, the judge provided the convict with the option of a fine of N50 million for each of the two counts, totaling N100 million.
Meanwhile, in her statement following her arrest, she claimed that she was recruited through an online platform to traffic the illicit consignment for a payment of 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successful delivery in Lagos.
She explained that she accepted the offer because she needed the money to fund her master’s degree program in Canada.