Cocaine in the shoe sole: Nigerian man jailed in Ireland

                          
A Nigerian man and his Costa Rican lover have been jailed in the United Kingdom for smuggling over €67,000(N14, 114, 514) of cocaine hidden in the soles of their shoes.

The pair, 37-year-old chef, Gerly Juarez, and 44-year-old Nigerian hematologist, Kingsley Edward met on an online dating website. Juarez, the mother of three, claimed that Edward bought her the shoes and told her to wear them as they set off for a holiday in Ireland, while he wore an identical set.

Edward, a citizen of the UK, pleaded guilty to possessing 544g of cocaine worth €38,108(N8, 039, 380) for sale or supply at Dublin Airport Terminal 1 on 15 April 15, while Juarez pleaded guilty to possessing 427g of the drug worth €29,100(N6, 129, 409) for sale or supply at the same location and date.

She has no previous convictions, but Edward had previously served a seven and a half year sentence for a similar offence in the UK.

The presiding judge, Mary Ellen Ring commented that Juarez’s children have suffered from her being in custody. She imposed a five-year sentence backdated to when Juarez entered custody in April and suspended the final four years.

Meanwhile, Edward was sentenced to seven years in jail with the final four years suspended, while also ordering that he should leave Ireland within 48 hours of his release and not return for ten years.