A Nigerian woman, Edigin Vivian, alongside a Kenyan, Josephine Mumbi Waithera, were yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment in Tanzania after being found guilty of trafficking drugs worth Sh289 million, The Citizen reports.

Justice Aishiel Sumari convicted Vivian of trafficking 797.56 grams of cocaine worth Sh39.8 million, through Kilimanjaro International Airport, KIA.

Vivian said she carried the drugs because life had become too tough for her.

According to her, she had four children to look after.

She, however, later said she would appeal against the sentence.

The judge said the prosecution had proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the accused had 15 capsules filled with cocaine in her luggage, and had swallowed 48 others, which she later passed out.

Meanwhile, also sentenced was Josephine, the Kenyan woman who was arrested with 3,249.82 grammes of heroin with a street value of Sh146.2 million upon arriving at KIA from Vienna, Austria, on November 27, 2012.

Justice Sumari said the sentences should serve as a deterrent to others, stressing that drugs were a scourge that was destroying society.

He said no effort should be spared in fighting the menace.