Nigerian caught smuggling £50k worth of cannabis into UK spared jail and wiillnot be deported

A Nigerian man caught smuggling weed worth up to £50,000 into the UK will escape deportation after he was handed a suspended jail sentence.

Michael Awonuga, 34, took the morning off work to collect what turned out to be a dummy parcel sent after border police had seized 10kg of cannabis disguised as foodstuffs.

A parcel from Lagos, Nigeria, addressed to a Phillip Nkam was seized at the Coventry international mail hub on July 5 last year.

Border police investigated and sent an undercover officer to deliver the dummy package which was signed for by Awonuga at a flat in Walthamstow, east London.

Awonuga admitted illegal importation of a class B drug and was handed a 10-month sentence suspended for two years at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Thursday.

The court heard that he would be subject to deportation should he be handed a prison sentence exceeding 12 months.

Awonuga, who previously juggled three part-time jobs, also has a three-year-old daughter he has not seen since he was remanded into custody.

Judge Ian Darling said: “You were the recipient of a significant amount of cannabis.

“In light of all the circumstances and what I have been told and the view I must take, I am prepared to accept that this was not intended for you and that it was going to be collected by someone else. That said, what you have done is serious.”

Awonuga, of Cruden House, Brandon Estate, Camberwell, admitted fraudulent evasion of a prohibition and was handed a 10-month prison term, suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and an additional order was granted for the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.