Nigerian footballer jailed 8 years in Cambodia for drug

A Nigerian who claimed to be a footballer, Mr. Francis Ihenwe Oderah, has been sentenced to eight years in jail in Cambodia for drugs trafficking.

Mr. Oderah, who was sentenced by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, Cambodia, was also fined about $10,000.

30-year-old Oderah had 100 grams of meth in his possession when he was arrested in Phnom Penh’s Choam Chao community in January. 

During his hearing on June 7, the accused confessed that he indeed acted as a delivery man but claimed he was not a dealer.

It also was revealed that the meth he was carrying had a purity of about 72 per cent.

Oderah will carry out his sentence in Prey Sar prison, where he has been detained since his arrest in January.

Judge Svay Tonh also ruled that three phones and a passport taken from the defendant upon his arrest would be returned [at the end of his prison term in 2024].

Oderah left Nigeria, telling his family and friends he was going to play football, but it was drug business.

Five months ago, eight Nigerians and one Cambodian were tried  by the same Court over allegations , they trafficked about a kilogram of methamphetamine early last year, according to officials.

The eight men and one woman were charged after being arrested by the Anti-Drug Department in January last year, presiding judge of Phnom Penh Municipal Court Khy Chhay said.

Deputy chief of the Anti-Drug Unit, Lieutenant Proeung Pheap, said the suspects were arrested during raids of three rental houses in Chamkarmon district’s Boeung Tumpon commune between January 8th and 9th, 2015.

Mr. Pheap said police arrested 10 people during the operation, including eight Nigerian men and two Cambodian women, one of whom was later released after establishing that she was not involved in the case.

Police also seized six packages of methamphetamine powder weighing just over 800 grams as well as other related drug materials during their raids.

36-year-old Okorom Nhabuife Favor, one of the eight accused men, claimed he was not guilty, saying police did not find any drug-related paraphernalia in his home.

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