The convicts Boniface Okoro Chukwuka, aged 28, and Frank Obiora Dozie, aged 34, tried on 5 July, were charged with smuggling more than a kilo of cocaine into Cambodia.
Presiding Judge Seng Rithy said the two men were arrested on July 13, 2017 by the drug police working with the Customs Police at Phnom Penh airport.
He added that after their arrest, the police seized 189 packets of cocaine weighing 1.1 kilograms, hidden in a box containing fancy jewelery that had been mailed to Cambodia.
During the trial, Chukwuka, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, admitted the crime while Dozie claimed his innocence.
Chukwuka said he had bought $ 15,000 worth of drugs from a Nigerian in Colombia and that he intended to sell them in Thailand.
"The seized drugs belonged to me and I imported them from Colombia," he told the court. "I admit that I made a mistake, I would like to ask for a lenient sentence."
Dozie said he knew Chukwuka, but he knew nothing about drugs. He said he was arrested because he was living with Mr. Chukwuka when police raided his rental house in Chom Chao commune last year.
"I am innocent," he said. "I would like to ask the court to drop the charge and release me."
However, Deputy Prosecutor Kol Bun said the two defendants belonged to a group of foreign drug traffickers who were hiding in Cambodia.
Outside the courtroom after the conviction, Dozie said he planned to appeal. "This is a great injustice," he said.
"I do not accept the judgment because I did not know the drugs and I was not involved in the traffic, I'm going to appeal."
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