A young Brazilian woman who smuggled cocaine worth £2.5 million into Dublin Airport last October has been jailed for five years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The drugs were hidden in picture frames in luggage carried by Norma Gonzales Insabralde (22) and Maria Emilia Bilibo, who was jailed for seven years last week.
Det Garda Brian Roberts said gardai had set up a surveillance operation to catch people waiting for the drugs at a Dublin hotel but the airport seizure was announced by the media and nobody turned up.
Insabralde and Bilibo were offered £5,000 each to carry the drugs and given £1,500 expenses and a return flight to Peru. Det Garda Roberts said Insabralde told gardai her handbag containing £400 was stolen on holidays with Bilibo in Lima, Peru.
They met a man named "William" in a disco and he asked them to smuggle drugs to Ireland. Det Garda Roberts said "William" later threatened Bilibo that she would never see her children again if she did not agree to smuggle the drugs and both women felt obliged to co-operate.