NEW DELHI, India: A 32-year old British citizen was sentenced Saturday to 10 years in prison for possession of 2.2 pounds of hashish, the Press Trust of India reported.
Peter Cowan, a mechanic from Edinburgh, Scotland, was arrested for possessing hashish.
It said a New Delhi judge found him guilty of possession of the drug and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment. The judge also ordered Cowan to pay an $8,000 fine or spends an additional two years in jail.
The sentence was only the second handed down under a tough anti-narcotics law introduced in November that allows for stiff prison sentences for drug peddling or possession.
In his defense, Cowan said the drug had been given to him by a French national who was staying with him at a New Delhi guest house, the Press Trust said.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 30, 1986
