Sierra Leone court convicted 15 people including nine foreigners to prison sentences of up to five years for trying to smuggle a record cocaine haul

Sierra Leone handed 5-year prison terms Tuesday to eight foreigners convicted of drug-smuggling.Justice Nicholas Browne-Marke also imposed fines ranging from $1.5 million to $5 million for the eight convicts, who include a Miami-based businessman with dual U.S.-Colombian citizenship, two Colombians, two Mexicans, two Venezuelans and one man from Guinea-Bissau.The men were convicted late Monday in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. The court found they had attempted last year to illegally import 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of cocaine in a Cessna plane with Red Cross markings. The convictions and sentences are subject to appeal.
The men landed the plane July 13 at Lungi international airport, which serves the capital. After finding authorities at the airport, the group fled but were later arrested.Drug smugglers seeking to move cocaine from South America to Europe are increasingly using West Africa as a transit point.Nine foreigners -- a US citizen, one Colombian, six Venezuelans and a Guinean-Bissau national -- were each sentenced to five years in jail with fines ranging from 1.5 million dollars to five million dollars.Sierra Leone court convicted 15 people including nine foreigners to prison sentences of up to five years for trying to smuggle a record cocaine haul into the country last year.The highest fine of five million dollars was handed to the 30-year-old American national, identified as Harvey Perez.The remaining Sierra Leoneans received jail terms ranging from three to five years and fines of between 49,505 and 16,502 dollars.The men were all arrested after more than 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of cocaine was discovered on a Venezuelan plane bearing a fake Red Cross emblem which landed at Freetown's Lungi international airport on July 13, 2008.The haul was a record for Sierra Leone and one of the biggest in the region last year.West Africa has become an important transit point for cocaine coming in from South America en route to lucrative European markets.Initially 18 people were on trial for the record haul but during the nine month trial three were released after the prosecution dropped the charges against them.Judge Nicolas Browne-Marke recommended the expulsion of the foreign convictsbut said he left it to the foreign ministry to determine whether where they would serve their jail sentences.Sources told AFP that several of the foreign nationals were also sought on drugs charges in other countries including the United States and could be extradited to stand trial abroad.The court ordered the entire load on cocaine to be destroyed and recommended that the seized Cessna plane be sold to the highest bidder.They men can appeal their convictions in the coming 21 days, the judge explained.After the haul, Sierra Leone toughened up its drugs laws and passed a measure which retroactively raised the maximum sentence for cocaine trafficking to life in prison.