– for attempting to traffic ‘coke’ to New York

A 46-year-old East Ruimveldt hairdresser was on Thursday sentenced to four years in prison and fined $2.3M, after pleading guilty to being in possession of over two pounds of cocaine, which she was trying to sneak on board a flight to New York.

Karen Stuffle, who was sentenced by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, admitted that on Saturday last at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport at Timehri, she attempted to traffic 1.142 kilograms of cocaine.

Konyo Sandiford of the Custom Anti-narcotics Unit (CANU), told the court that on the day in question, Stuffle was an outgoing passenger on a Caribbean Airlines flight BW526, bound for JFK, New York; and when she went to the check-in area, she was first cautioned by a CANU officer before being taken by said officer into a room where she was subjected to a cavity search.

That search, Sandiford said, uncovered the cocaine wrapped in plastic in Stuffle’s vagina.
On realising that the game was up, Stuffle reportedly told the CANU rank, “That is all the cocaine I got.”

But when she was taken to a city hospital to have an X-ray done, it showed that she had foreign objects in her stomach, and was given a dose of laxative to help pass them out.
Two days later, while under guard at the hospital, Stuffle reportedly excreted 100 pellets of cocaine.

Sandiford told the court that the woman had, in her confession statement, given detailed information about her recruiters, and that they’d taken care of all her travel arrangements and paid her US$400 to do the job.

The prosecutor disclosed that three persons are currently in custody, and that they are on the hunt for a fourth suspect.

Before handing down the sentence, the Chief Magistrate asked Stuffle if she had anything to say to the court. At that, she broke down in tears and quietly said, “I’m sorry.”