American drug mule gets three years, fined $50,000

Nov 02, 2011 News

Another foreigner was yesterday imprisoned for trying to smuggle drugs out of the country. A 25-year-old American citizen appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court where she admitted to the court that she had made a mistake after being read the charge against her.
Viola Pantaleon, a mother of four, appeared before Magistrate Sueanna Lovell after she was arrested at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri, for the offence of trafficking in narcotics. The woman who resides at 6781 North West Avenue, New York, had in her possession 176 grams of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
The prosecution’s facts read that on October 28, last, at CJIA, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) officers observed the woman who was acting strangely. She admitted to the ranks at the port of exit that she had ingested pellets containing cocaine. The court heard that Pantaleon had made arrangements with someone “to travel to Guyana to make money”.
On October 17 the defendant entered the country claiming to have come on vacation. She was picked up by the said individual at the airport where she stayed in Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara. The woman, according to the prosecution, while in the country was given 100 pellets of the cocaine to swallow. It was revealed that the woman was left by herself to ingest the drug where she only consumed 19 of the pellets and hid the remainder in some dirty items.
Unknown to her associate, the woman had given the impression that she had swallowed all the pellets. She was later taken to the CJIA where she was later nabbed by the Anti-narcotics unit on duty there. Reports said that during a check of the woman’s belongings she behaved strangely causing the ranks to have suspicions.
Pantaleon later revealed to the officers that she had ingested the drugs. She was taken to a hospital where an X-ray was done. It was revealed that she had indeed swallowed the drugs. The cocaine was excreted over several days.
The American was later sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of $50,000.
The Magistrate mentioned to the convicted woman that the crime she had committed was one of a serious nature. She also advised that there were other means of providing for her children, whereas they must now do without their mother. Pantaleon was told to accept the sentence as a learning experience.

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American drug mule gets three years, fined $50,000

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