A young Ghanaian man, Simon Arhinful, has been handed a 20-year prison sentence by a Turkish court after being found guilty of smuggling tramadol into the country.
The drugs were reportedly brought in not by Simon himself, but by a friend he had asked to purchase the medication in Ghana and bring it along during a visit to Turkey.
According to reports, Simon had requested his friend, whose identity remains undisclosed, to buy him tramadol from Ghana and bring it back to Turkey.
The friend successfully passed through security at Ghana’s Kotoka International Airport, with the drugs undetected.
However, upon arrival in Turkey, authorities flagged the package during security screening and quickly made an arrest.
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Unaware of the trap waiting ahead, Simon is said to have shown up cheerfully at the airport to welcome his friend, only to be arrested on the spot by Turkish police.
He was immediately linked to the illegal drug haul, having been identified as the intended recipient.
What followed was a swift and heavy-handed ruling. After facing trial, both Simon and his friend were sentenced to 20 years in prison each, a verdict that has stunned Ghanaian communities both at home and abroad.
Tramadol is classified as a controlled substance in Turkey, with its smuggling considered a serious criminal offense.
The country’s drug laws are notoriously strict, and even possession of relatively small quantities of controlled substances can lead to long-term imprisonment.
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