By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Court Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
AN American cruise visitor was fined in court on Friday after admitting to bringing recreational marijuana into the country.
Idris Aliyu, 25, of New York, stood before Magistrate Samuel McKinney on a charge of possession of dangerous drugs.
After entering New Providence aboard the Carnival Conquest, Aliyu was arrested after being found with 1 ΒΌ oz of Indian hemp in four blue packages.
In a subsequent police interview he admitted to buying the drugs in the US for his recreational use and further said that he was unaware that weed was illegal here.
As such he pleaded guilty to the offence in court resulting in him receiving a fine of $350 or one month in prison.
After requesting to have the fine lowered over concerns of the cost to return home, the magistrate told the defendant that the US Embassy should assist with his repatriation.
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