Surinamese national Damaris Chaslie, who attempted to smuggle cocaine hidden in her privates onto an outgoing flight at the Ogle Airport last year, has been jailed for three years.
Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul handed down the sentence yesterday to Chaslie, who was 22 when she was charged last May with possession of narcotics for trafficking after her arrest at the airport.
Chaslie had changed her plea from not guilty to guilty three months ago.
She was caught on May 17, 2015, about to board a plane bound for Barbados. Police say a search uncovered a parcel suspected to be cocaine in her vagina. Chaslie, a mother of two children, also told authorities that she had ingested 42 pellets with cocaine at the time. In total, the cocaine on her person amounted to 556 grammes.
The magistrate, in explaining the sentence, noted that Chaslie did not waste the court’s time since she changed her plea.
The first time offender told the court that she was sorry that she committed the act, and that she was driven to it because she is a single mother.
In addition to the sentence, Chaslie was also fined $30,000.
