Louisa De Marco, a 53 year old former Asda manager, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison, half to be served behind bars, for attempting to smuggle over 31 kilogrammes of cannabis into the UK via Manchester Airport.
She was offered £10,000 (440,835 baht) for the job, allegedly orchestrated during a trip to Thailand, but pocketed nothing after losing her £40,000 (1.76 million baht) a year job during the pandemic.
Border Force officers intercepted two suitcases linked to her on May 8. Although De Marco denied ownership and claimed they contained tobacco, airport officials confirmed the contents consisted of 31.25 kilogrammes of Class B cannabis. She admitted guilt to charges of evading import prohibition.
During questioning, De Marco revealed she had met someone who enticed her with the smuggling opportunity while abroad and was supplied with flights for herself and a friend. She also stated she refused to provide police with her phone PIN and claimed intimidation from handlers threatened to derail her return flight if she backed out.
Defence counsel Bradley Mather highlighted her post-pandemic financial difficulties, poor mental and physical health, ongoing benefits status, and potential impact on her daughter’s housing as mitigating factors.
However, Judge Sarah Griffin remained unmoved, stating De Marco “headed out to Thailand with her eyes wide open,” and warned of especially serious consequences given her full awareness of the plan, reported Dailymail.
In similar news, British teenager Bella Culley, originally from Billingham, County Durham, appeared emotional at a pre-trial hearing in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she broke into tears and revealed a long scar on her right arm, allegedly inflicted by a burning iron during torture in Thailand, claiming she was coerced into trafficking nearly 14 kg of cannabis and hashish, a crime that could carry a life sentence if convicted.
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