A Nigerian drug convict in Cambodia, Precious Chineme Nwoko has had his
hope for reprieve dashed. Nwoko, also known as Precious Max and linked
with several Australian women arrested for being his mules, was
sentenced to 27 years imprisonment in 2014. His hope for reprieve was
dashed by a Cambodian appeals court on Tuesday.
The court upheld his prison term, ruling that it was appropriate and in
accordance with Cambodia law. The court also upheld the prison terms
slammed on a Frenchwoman, and Australian. The trio were all convicted
for trying to smuggle heroin to Australia.
Judge Pol Sam Ouen said the sentences given by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in May 2014 to then-19-year-old Frenchwoman Charlene Savarino, 41-year-old Ann Yoshe Taylor of Australia and 23-year-old Precious Nwoko of Nigeria were correct.
The lower court had sentenced Savarino to 25 years in prison, Taylor to 23 years and Nwoko to 27 years. Savarino and Taylor were arrested in September 2013 at Phnom Penh International Airport after police found 2.2 kilograms (4.8 pounds) of heroin in Taylor’s luggage as they prepared to fly together to Australia.
Nwoko, Savarino’s boyfriend, was believed to have masterminded the smuggling and asked Savarino to make the arrangements.
Cambodia is not a major producer of illegal drugs but has increasingly become a smuggling transit route.
Nwoko, who is known as Precious Max, had posed as a successful South African businessman in Phnom Penh when he befriended Taylor on the internet. She became romantically involved with him after he had paid for her airfare to Cambodia.
On September 18, 2013, Nwoko asked Taylor, who was due to fly back to Australia, to take a backpack full of samples for an arts and crafts business in which he claimed to have an involvement. She hadn’t made it to the check-in counter when police swooped and found about two kilograms of heroin in the backpack.
Nwoko was arrested soon after.
Judge Pol Sam Ouen said the sentences given by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in May 2014 to then-19-year-old Frenchwoman Charlene Savarino, 41-year-old Ann Yoshe Taylor of Australia and 23-year-old Precious Nwoko of Nigeria were correct.
The lower court had sentenced Savarino to 25 years in prison, Taylor to 23 years and Nwoko to 27 years. Savarino and Taylor were arrested in September 2013 at Phnom Penh International Airport after police found 2.2 kilograms (4.8 pounds) of heroin in Taylor’s luggage as they prepared to fly together to Australia.
Nwoko, Savarino’s boyfriend, was believed to have masterminded the smuggling and asked Savarino to make the arrangements.
Cambodia is not a major producer of illegal drugs but has increasingly become a smuggling transit route.
Nwoko, who is known as Precious Max, had posed as a successful South African businessman in Phnom Penh when he befriended Taylor on the internet. She became romantically involved with him after he had paid for her airfare to Cambodia.
On September 18, 2013, Nwoko asked Taylor, who was due to fly back to Australia, to take a backpack full of samples for an arts and crafts business in which he claimed to have an involvement. She hadn’t made it to the check-in counter when police swooped and found about two kilograms of heroin in the backpack.
Nwoko was arrested soon after.
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