Nigerian Unachukwu Chiluba sentenced to death in Vietnam

The 25-year-old Nigerian has been sentenced to death for trafficking three kilogrammes of methamphetamine from Cambodia to Vietnam.

Unachukwu Chiluba Paulinus was sentenced in a court in the southwestern province of Tay Ninh on Tuesday, April 13.

He was arrested on February 19, 2020, in the Ta Pheng area of Thuan Tay hamlet in Loi Thuan commune, Ben Cau district, while illegally transporting the narcotic substances.

Unachukwu told the police that he arrived in Cambodia in 2019, where he met an African man called Oscar who hired him to transport the drugs from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City for 2,000 USD. He was paid 650 USD in advance.

After travelling by taxi from Phnom Penh to the border, he crossed over into Vietnam and was arrested by Ben Cau district’s police.

He also confessed to having earlier transported a backpack containing drugs from Cambodia to HCM City, which he delivered to an unknown man.

This comes a few days after 45-year-old Ekwegbalu James Nzube, another Nigerian was also sentenced to death for trafficking nearly four kilogrammes of methamphetamine.

Nzube said he got acquainted with another Nigerian, Jone, in China in 2014 and the latter had hired him to transport drugs from Cambodia to Vietnam.

He said he went to Ho Chi Minh City in March before going to Cambodia to get the drugs for which he was paid $2,000.

Vietnam has one of the world’s toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600g of heroin or 2.5kg methamphetamine face the death penalty.