Cameroonian woman, sentenced to 8 years in prison for importing and sales of drugs in the TRNC

A court in North Cyprus has sentenced a mother of 3 to 8 years in prison for important drugs into the country.

The verdict against the defendant named only as LCM, Cameroonian, was delivered on Wednesday, March, 29.

She was accused in 2022 for importing 16 kilos and 750 grams of drugs from Cameroon.

The court judge who announced the verdict underlined that the defendant's import of drugs weighing 9 and a half kilograms via Ercan Airport created a grave picture. He stated that precautions should be taken to avoid such a situation and emphasized the importance of fighting against drugs for a healthy society.

Making the decision, the judge sated the following:

"The importation of marijuana weighing nine and a half kilograms via Ercan Airport to the TRNC, where we host many foreign students, who came to our country under the name of a student and did not have enough money to pay for their education, raises serious questions about the criteria that universities take into account when accepting students, as well as the state's acceptance of students points to serious weaknesses in its policy. 

Considering that the TRNC is a country of universities, it raises serious questions about how much we can protect students in terms of access to drugs. Because the accused was caught not while importing the drug into our country, but after she delivered the drug to her accomplices, and the fact that such a high amount of drug can be brought into the country from Ercan Airport in a suitcase without any additional measures reveals a picture as grave as the crime committed online, therefore, we hope that all parties will act with the awareness of my responsibilities in order not to face such a dire situation again. 

Considering the seriousness of the crime committed by the accused, the way the crime was committed, and the high amount of imported drugs in the matter before us, we find it appropriate to impose a liberty-binding sentence on the accused.  

When deciding on the duration of the sentence that binds freedom, the gravity of the crime committed, after taking into account that the amount of the drug subject to the crime is high, that the drug type is cannabis, which is considered the least harmful although the amount is high, that the defendant has three dependent children, that she has a positive attitude by admitting her crime, 9 kilos 526 grams 690 milligrams of Indian cannabis in the case. We will sentence her to 8 years in prison for importing cannabis-type drugs," he said.