The High Court of Sierra Leone has handed down one of the country’s heaviest narcotics sentences, convicting a 37-year-old South African national to a cumulative 130 years in prison for cocaine smuggling.
Honourable Justice Andrew S.C. Johnson found the defendant, Asandra Denise, guilty on a five-count drug indictment.
However, in a key sentencing decision, the judge ordered that all five sentences run concurrently, meaning she will serve a maximum of 30 years, calculated from the date she was first remanded in custody.
According to court records, Denise, a resident of Nenvonds in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, was arrested at Freetown International Airport in Lungi after security operatives discovered her in possession of 365 pellets of compressed cocaine weighing approximately 5.4 kilograms.
She pleaded not guilty to charges including unlawful possession, dealing, collecting, importing and transporting of prohibited drugs without lawful authority.