Four years imprisonment, $30,000 fine for woman trafficker
THE woman busted with cocaine at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) last Saturday was sentenced to four years imprisonment yesterday. Althea Jhingoree, 21, of Lot 119 Second Street, Craig, also on East Bank Demerara, was also fined $30,000 by Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
The prisoner admitted that she trafficked in two kilogrammes of the narcotic by concealing it in 10 pairs of ladies shoes and pleaded guilty to the June 4 offence, particulars of which said she had the drug for the purpose of trafficking.
Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) Special Prosecutor Oswald Massiah said Jhingoree was an outgoing passenger to Jamaica when an officer of the agency made the find in her suitcase, after his suspicion was aroused and he searched her luggage.                
Massiah said each pair of shoes had the whitish substance and, when weighted in her presence, amounted to two kilogrammes.
He said the convict told CANU officers that she was given the shoes by an in-law whom she did not name but took them to West Bank Demerara on a futile search.
Jhingoree, who was unrepresented by legal counsel, begged the Court for mercy, stating that it was her first such appearance.