Nigerian drug trafficker sentenced to life in prison

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday sentenced a Nigerian drug dealer, who used South Korean travelers to transport banned substances, to life in prison and a fine of 100 million won (US$80,000).

Obioha Frank Chinedu, 42, was convicted last year of using South Koreans --
mostly young women -- as mules to traffick cocaine and marijuana.
He fled to China with a forged passport after South Korean prosecutors launched
an investigation in 2002, but was arrested at a German airport the following year
and then transferred to Denmark. He managed to escape from a Danish prison while
awaiting trial in 2004, and resurfaced in China in 2007. Seoul had him extradited
from Beijing last year.
A district court and an appellate court convicted him of drug trafficking and
gave life imprisonment.
The highest court upheld the lower court's ruling, saying "The original judgment
is justified considering the defendant's motive for the crime, means and results
of his acts and the circumstances."
Prosecutors said that Chinedu, who disguised himself as a businessman, lured 12
Koreans into carrying the drugs in 2002 by promising to pay for their overseas
trips. The South Koreans -- 10 women and two men -- were convicted of drug
smuggling in Britain, the Netherlands, Brazil and Japan and served two to seven
years in jail.
Under South Korean law, drug dealers can be sentenced to at least five years in
prison or a maximum of life imprisonment.