An African woman has been sentenced to 10-year in jail for possessing over 16 kilogram contraband heroin by a Delhi court which said probe agencies in India "cannot dare" to falsely implicate a foreigner due to "diplomatic constraints".
The court convicted 48-year-old African national Kinuani Feza Johnson under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on her.
"The accused (Johnson) is a foreigner and due to diplomatic constraints, the investigating agencies of this country cannot dare to falsely implicate any foreigner in a serious case like this," Special Judge M K Nagpal said.
The court dismissed the contention of Johnson regarding false implication in the case saying "there is not even any allegation or argument as to what could have been a possible reason for false implication of the accused in this case as admittedly she or her husband was not even known to any member of the raiding team or to any other officer of DRI".
The case against Johnson was registered on a complaint of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). According to DRI, they had received a tip-off that on February 2, 2009, an African woman would bring some narcotic drugs to be delivered at Vasant Vihar here.
It said that on the basis of the information, a team was constituted and Johnson was apprehended at the spot and during the search of her bag, 16.231 kilogram of heroin was recovered from her possession.
During the trial, Johnson denied the recovery of heroin from her possession and said she was being falsely implicated in the case by DRI.
The court, however, convicted her saying the prosecution has "successfully brought home the guilt of the accused and proved its charge against her for commission of the offence punishable under section 21 (c) of the NDPS Act."