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Judge "sympathetic" to Bolivian woman who swallowed more than 1.3kgs of cocaine
Summary
Patricia Rea Suarez, a 40‑year‑old Bolivian mother, was jailed for one year after swallowing 41 pellets of cocaine, weighing more than 1.3 kg, before boarding a flight from São Paulo to Dublin via Lisbon. She was arrested at Dublin Airport on 22 May and spent five days in hospital, where doctors feared the pellets might burst inside her. Suarez pleaded guilty to possessing drugs for sale or supply and to importing illegal drugs. Judge Martin Nolan accepted that she ingested the drugs in exchange for €2,000 cash, citing her poverty and desperation. He noted her remorse, cooperation with Gardaí, lack of prior convictions, and that she would not return to Ireland after release. The one‑year sentence was back‑dated to the day she entered custody, with the judge suggesting she would be released shortly after Christmas.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Judge "sympathetic" to Bolivian woman who swallowed more than 1.3kgs of cocaine. Charges or matters: possessing drugs for sale or supply and importing illegal drugs at Dublin Airport on May 22. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- May 22 Incident
- Christmas Other
- 2019-11-12 Publication
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: possessing drugs for sale or supply and importing illegal drugs at Dublin Airport on May 22 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Handing down sentence, Judge Martin Nolan accepted Suarez had ingested the drugs in return for €2,000 cash. "Due to her poverty at the time, she involved herself in this crime out of desperation," he said. Judge Nolan said if the circumstances of the case had been different, he would have imposed a four or five year sentence.
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