Ahmedabad: A city sessions court has sentenced a Ugandan woman to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a ₹2 lakh fine on her in a drug trafficking case. The accused, Mukakibibi Charic, was arrested at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) Airport on February 15, 2022, following a tip-off received by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

Officials found that she had swallowed heroin-filled capsules. She was admitted to the Civil Hospital, where 79 capsules containing 868 grams of heroin were recovered from her stomach.

Charic was tried under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. After the trial, Special NDPS Court Judge V.B. Rajput held her guilty and awarded the maximum sentence. The court observed that drug trafficking poses a serious threat to society, destroying families and endangering youth. It also noted that the accused risked her life by concealing the capsules for financial gain, underlining her role in international drug trafficking. DeshGujarat