A South African drug courier who had 9 kg of cannabis in her luggage when arrested at Dublin Airport has been jailed for five years.
Zulfa Gasant (38), of Kensington, Cape Town, later helped to set up the dealer who was arrested by gardai in a Dublin hotel. Her husband has now disappeared in South Africa.
She pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to importing £18,000 worth of cannabis on May 4th, 2000. Gasant told gardai she had serious financial problems and had imported the drugs on behalf of a South African man. She agreed to co-operate with gardai.
Mr Erwan Mill Arden SC, defending, said Gasant was in poor health, suffered from a psychiatric condition and had tried to hang herself with a television aerial while in prison. Her daughter had recently been diagnosed as having leukaemia.