25-year-old Nigerian man sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Vietnam

The People’s Court of the southwestern province of Tay Ninh, Vietnam on Tuesday, April 13, sentenced a 25-year-old Nigerian man to death for illegally transporting narcotic substances into the country from Cambodia. 

Unachukwu Chiluba Paulinus was arrested on February 19, 2020, in the Ta Pheng area of Thuan Tay hamlet in Loi Thuan commune, Ben Cau district, while transporting nearly 3 kilogrammes of methamphetamine.

He told police that he arrived in Cambodia in 2019, where he met an African man called Oscar who hired him to transport the drugs from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City for 2,000 USD. He was paid 650 USD in advance.

After traveling by taxi from Phnom Penh to the border, he crossed over into Vietnam and was arrested by Ben Cau district’s police.

He also confessed to having earlier transported a backpack containing drugs from Cambodia to HCM City, which he delivered to an unknown man.

The decision was based on Clause 4 in Article 250 of the 2015 Penal Code, the local media reported.