[i]hmm..hmm.HAPPY NEW MONTH coolvallers[/i]
[img]https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lnG_RTEswZA/WJGmposXpmI/AAAAAAAAFk4/QLirrINUosUmPwax2mka2AWzZaqW9apAgCLcB/s280/a.jpg[/img]
A Cambodia court has sentenced a 22-
year-old Thai woman to life
imprisonment for trafficking 2.5
kilogrammes of cocaine from the United
Arab Emirates.
Amphawan Kaewkanlaya claimed she was
tricked into carrying the drugs by her
Nigerian boyfriend's older brother. She
was also fined 60 million riel (about
535,000 baht).
Police found packages of cocaine, totaling
2.5kg, hidden in boxes of Lindt
chocolates in her luggage.
"The court has decided to give her a life
sentence and a fine of 60 million riel to
be put in the national budget," Phnom
Penh Municipal Court presiding judge
Heng Kessaror said in passing judgement
on Thursday, January 5th.
"The court orders the confiscation of the
drugs seized and other drug-related
material to be destroyed," he added.
Amphawan said she would appeal the
judgement and maintained she was
innocent. During her trial last month she
said she was unaware the package she
accepted from her boyfriend’s brother,
the boxes of Swiss chocolates, during her
visit to the UAE contained drugs.
"It is so unjust for me. I will consider my
appeal of the judgment to the Appeal
Court,"she said.
During her trial last month, Amphawan
said she traveled from Thailand to Dubai
in March to visit her Nigerian boyfriend,
Uche, and his family there.
Her boyfriend had paid for her airline
tickets, visa, food and accommodation,
she said. Before returning home last
month, she was given the boxes of Lindt
chocolates by Uche’s older brother,
whose name she could not recall. He had
asked her to take the chocolates to a
friend of his in Cambodia.
She said she became aware the hidden
drugs only when she was detained at
Phnom Penh International Airport and
police inspected the boxes.
Police seized 2,594 grammes of cocaine
and charged her with transporting an
illicit drug, possession and trafficking.
