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A woman who was caught attempting to smuggle a stash of tramadol, cannabis, and kush to her husband during his criminal trial has claimed she unknowingly carried the black plastic bag of illegal drugs.
Zainab Bintu Samura was convicted by Hon. Justice Mark Ngagba of High Court No. 3 in Freetown on six counts of unlawful possession and dealing in prohibited drugs and sentenced to 45 years in prison.
During the trial, Samura made an unsworn statement in her defense, telling the court that on November 6, 2025, she was visiting her husband at the Pademba Road Court when an unidentified man approached her.
She claimed the man asked her to deliver a black plastic bag to her husband, and she accepted it without knowing its contents. The bag was intercepted by a corrections officer before it could be delivered. Samura added that a subsequent police search of her residence yielded nothing of interest.
Despite her defense, Justice Ngagba ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt, noting that Samura failed to establish any lawful authority for possessing the drugs.
Witnesses from the Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU) testified that Samura was found with the intercepted bag. Forensic analysts later confirmed the contents included 210 pink-coloured Tramadol tablets weighing 100.4 grams, 60 grams of kush, and 40 grams of loose cannabis sativa.
Relying on Section 57 of the National Drugs Control Act of 2008, Justice Ngagba stated that because the tested samples were confirmed to be prohibited substances, the entire cache was legally presumed to hold the same properties.
Samura was found guilty on all six counts. She received 15 years in prison for each of the three counts of unlawful possession, and five years for each of the three counts of dealing in prohibited drugs, amounting to a 45-year total sentence.
