Nayele Ametefe, the Ghanaian woman who was arrested at Heathrow Airport with 12 kg of cocaine has been handed an eight-year jail term by a London court in the United Kingdom (UK).
Nayele was represented by a new lawyer, James Kobby but did not change her “guilty” plea.
She will serve a total of 8 years, 8 months in prison.
Her sentence includes community service and it is expected that she will serve half of her sentence in jail.
[contextly_sidebar id=”6SoKiT6rgQFb8smnLiQU5qAkIPRRLZyu”]The forensic analysis on the cocaine showed a 79% purity and the street value is estimated at about 1.8 million Pounds.
She admitted in her first appearance via video link that she is guilty of the charges leveled against her; carrying cocaine into the UK.
Nayale reportedly also had in her possession, £23,000 and $6,000 when she was arrested, which is currently in the custody of the UK Border agency, but the court is expected to set a new date to rule on the exact amount of money she had on her.
The UK government will officially confiscate the said amount of money by July 6, 2015.
There had been reports in the media on Monday that Nayele would reverse her earlier guilty plea.
The prosecution had stated that she would get a minimum of 10 years and if the substance was in excess of 10kg she would get more, but her early guilty plea appears to have influenced the sentence.
The cocaine saga
November 16, 2014: News broke of Nayele Ametefeh’s arrest at London’s Heathrow airport in November for cocaine possession.
November 17, 2014: Government denies claim that Nayele was carrying a diplomatic passport when she was arrested.
November 17, 2014: Following the publication of the story by Citi FM, the Managing Director of the station, Samuel Attah-Mensah, was invited for questioning by BNI.
November 22, 2014: President John Mahama dissolves the governing board of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB).
November 23, 2014: Nine people arrested in connection with cocaine bust.
November 24, 2015: Director at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abiel Ashitey Armah, arrested.
November 25, 2014: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hannah Tetteh reveals that Nayele thought she was carrying gold in her hand luggage rather than cocaine.
November 27, 2014: Nayele pleads guilty to all the charges leveled against her in a court in London.
November 30, 2014: Two female accomplices of Nayele were remanded in police custody by the Accra Circuit Court for allegedly conspiring with the suspect.
December 2, 2014: Alhaji Mohammed Alamid Dawood, was arrested for allegedly aiding Nayele Ametefe and her two friends to use the VIP lounge of the Kotoka International Airport(KIA) in Accra, to transport cocaine.
December 8, 2014: A Ghanaian Times Reporter, Edem Mensah was physically assaulted by family members and friends of Nayele’s accomplices in court.
January 6, 2015: Nayele is sentenced to 8 years and 8 months in prison by the UK court.
By: Nana Boakye-Yiadom/citifmonline.com/Ghana