Nigeria fines actress 7,800 dollar for cocaine smuggling

LAGOS, Jan 26 (Reuters) A Nigerian court has fined a popular film actress 7,800 dollar for trying to smuggle 1.2 kg of cocaine to Britain, local media reported today.

The sentence by a Lagos High Court judge yesterday came a day before Singapore hanged a 21-year-old Nigerian for importing 727 grams of heroin.

Actress Hassanat Taiwo Akinwande burst into tears after the judge read the sentence, which gave her the option of serving three years in jail instead, newspapers said.

She was caught with 92 packets of the drug in her stomach at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos trying to board a flight to London.

Nigeria, with porous borders and corrupt security forces, is a major conduit for hard drugs produced in Asia and Latin America heading to markets in the rich world.

REUTERS SSC VC1503