Nigerian Man And His American Partner Jailed For 25 Years In Cambodia For Drug Trafficking

A Nigerian identified as David Vincent, has been jailed in Cambodia.

The man and his American partner were convicted and sentenced to 25 years each in prison, for drug trafficking

It was learnt that American Matthew David Sample, 40, and David Vincent, 48, were arrested in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in February 2021 for allegedly trafficking 1.31 kg of crystal meth and nimetazepam.

The two men were said to have been charged with "drug possession, transport and trafficking" under Article 40 of the Cambodian Law on Drugs Control, said the verdict read by Phnom Penh Municipal Court's Presiding Judge Kim Sokunthea, according to Xinhua Net.

"Based on the seized evidence, the court has found them guilty of illicit drug possession, transport and trafficking. Therefore, the court decides to sentence each of them to 25 years in prison," the verdict said.

The court also ordered both of them to pay a fine of 10,000 U.S. dollars.

The court also sentenced another Cambodian accomplice Theam Tola, 34, to three years in jail and fined him 1,000 dollars over the same case.

According to the report, they confessed to the crime, during a hearing in December last year, saying that they possessed the drugs and tried to sell them for money, as they had no jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Southeast Asian nation has no death sentence for illicit drug traffickers. Under its law, those found guilty of trafficking more than 80 grams of illicit drugs could be imprisoned for life.

The authorities arrested 14,784 drug-related suspects in 2022, seizing a total of 14.5 tons of all kinds of illicit drugs, according to the country's Anti-Drug Police Department.