Courts / Dublin / Report
Mentally ill drugs courier spent two days wandering around airport
Summary
Maja Kajuka, a 58‑year‑old Latvian woman with mental health difficulties, was found at Dublin Airport carrying €183,000 worth of cocaine concealed in laminated photographs. She had travelled to Brazil on a work assignment for a design company, delivered the photographs to a contact, and was told to meet another Brazilian man at the airport to hand over the photographs and receive her return ticket. After losing her phone, she wandered the airport landside, unaware of the drugs. She pleaded guilty to possession of 2.6 kg of cocaine on 13 July 2019. Judge Martin Nolan sentenced her to four and a half years in prison, suspending the balance on the condition that she leave Ireland and return to Latvia within two weeks, with release contingent on firm arrangements to return. The judge noted her low moral culpability and that she had been used by others.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Mentally ill drugs courier spent two days wandering around airport. Charges or matters: possession of 2.6Kg of cocaine at Dublin Airport on July 13, 2019. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- July 13, 2019 Adjournment
- 2020-01-28 Publication
Why: Gda Garland agreed with Fiona Murphy SC, defending, that it was "very bizarre set of circumstances" and her client was "hanging around the airport because she didn't know what to do with herself". Defence account reported by CNI
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: possession of 2.6Kg of cocaine at Dublin Airport on July 13, 2019 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Judge Nolan sentenced Kajuka to four and half years in prison but suspended the balance on condition that she leave Ireland and return to Latvia within two weeks.; She has no previous convictions and had been remanded in custody since.
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