THE reputed wife of convicted drug lord Barry Dataram was sentenced to nine months imprisonment on Wednesday for smuggling contraband into the Mazaruni Prison.

Anjanie Boodnarine, 21, of Lot 7, Patentia Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara, was found guilty by Magistrate Christel Lambert at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court. Boodnarine was on trial for smuggling a pack of cigarette for Dataram on March 31, 2017 at the Mazaruni Prison.

In April, Boodnarine appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan and was released on $150,000 bail after denying the charge; the matter was then transferred to the Bartica Magistrate’s court for trial.

According to reports, Boodnarine was reportedly in the process of attempting to sneak in a quantity of cigarettes in a sealed packet of ‘cheese sticks’ when she was caught by prison officials during a mandatory check of the contents.

Dataram is currently serving a five year sentence at the Mazaruni Prison for cocaine possession, and an additional 48 months for forgery. He was also sentenced to three years imprisonment after he was found guilty of possession of ammunition.

In 2016, Boodnarine was charged with possession of ammunition after one hundred and eighty .223 rounds of live ammunition were found in her Diamond, East Bank Demerara home. She was also charged for having 129.23kg of cocaine in her possession for the purpose of trafficking.

However, Boodnarine and Dataram absconded to Suriname mere days before the trial Magistrate made her ruling in the drug possession case. The couple, however, was arrested and extradited to Guyana, where they were slapped with forgery related charges and Boodnarine was eventually freed.