A 39 year old man of Navosa who was arrested with more than 7.2 kilograms of Marijuana was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment by the Lautoka High court this morning.
Alifereti Qiolele was arrested after police raided his house and seized seven different lots of dried leaves found in various rooms of the house in March last year.
High Court Judge Justice Paul Madigan while sentencing Qiolele said that the raid was carried at a time when the whole country was focused on the Navosa region being a major area of drug cultivation.
Justice Madigan took into account that he has a wife and a very young daughter who depend on him for their livelihood and before his arrest, Qiolele was a farmer of root crops and yaqona.
However the Judge stated that the seizure from his house represents a very large amount and the risk it would have posed to the youths of the country should it not have been seized.
Judge Paul Madigan said such a large amount can only be used by Qiolele for commercial purposes and it is fortunate that this large quanity of narcotics was prevented from entering the market.
He was sentence to twelve years imprisonment with a non-parole period of nine years.
Story by: Shalvin Deo
