Jail for Brazil drugs smuggle bid

Walsh was stopped by customs officials at Glasgow airport

A woman who was caught trying to smuggle cocaine worth more than half a million pounds from Brazil into Scotland has been jailed for 30 months.

Deborah Walsh, 36, was stopped by customs at Glasgow Airport having just arrived from Sao Paulo.

Officials discovered hidden drugs with a street value of £560,000 in the lining of one of her travel bags.

At the High Court in Glasgow admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine in June this year.

The court was told that Walsh's ticket to Sao Paolo was bought two days before she flew out, by a foreign-sounding man who paid in cash.

During her stay, she treated herself to a night in an expensive hotel in the Brazilian city.

'Preyed upon'

Prosecutor Kevin McCallum said she was stopped on 15 June having arrived in Glasgow via Amsterdam and customs officers discovered the drugs.

Mr McCallum added: "The quantity of cocaine recovered in this case was clearly a significant amount and was clearly intended for onward supply to others."

The court was told how Walsh had agreed to be a courier to help re-pay a drug debt.

Tony Graham, defending, said: "This was an individual preyed upon by others using cowardice to mask their involvement in drugs."

Judge Lord Brailsford told Walsh the courts had to take a "serious view" for such offences.

He said he was reducing the sentence from 60 months due to factors such as her guilty plea.

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