A drug smuggler who secreted almost 100 cocaine pellets in her body and bra accidentally showed Border Patrol officers photos of drugs on her phone.
Mother-of-four Larissa Lins, 27, was detained at Manchester airport after arriving in the country from Brazil on August 24 this year.
She claimed she had come to the UK to “find interesting places” after previously traveling through France and Portugal, Manchester Crown Court heard.
She denied that she had brought anything illegal into the country and voluntarily showed the officers photos from her stay in France.
However, while scrolling, they came across a photo of “white pellets”, and further searches revealed that Lins had swallowed, secreted and hidden a kilogram of the drug both internally and externally.
Larissa Lins, 27, denied bringing anything illegal into the country and voluntarily showed officers photos from her stay in France.
Lins was detained at Manchester airport after arriving from Brazil on August 24 this year
After pleading guilty to concerns over fraudulently circumventing an import ban on the Class A drug, she was jailed on Thursday and told she would “almost inevitably” be deported back to Brazil after serving 40 percent of her sentence.
Prosecutor David Toal said Lins flew from São Paulo to Manchester via France and Portugal with only a small pink carry-on bag, the court heard.
Border Guard officers spoke to her through a Portuguese translator and she said it was her first visit to the country. She added that she came to the UK to “walk around and look for interesting places”.
Lins stated that she packed her own suitcase and did not bring anything illegal to the UK.
Toal said: “She volunteered her phone to show officers photos she had taken in France and when officers looked through they saw photos of white pellets which they believed to be cocaine.
“The defendant was arrested and told officers that she had put cocaine pellets into her body since the previous day. She was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital where she passed all the internal pellets at various stages.”
Officers conducted a further search of Lins and found more bullets hidden under the lining of her bra. A total of 99 granules were secured, weighing a total of 1.1 kg with packaging and 923 grams without.
The court heard the wholesale price for this quantity of the Class A drug was estimated at around £30,000 and its street value at around £72,000.
Lins was arrested and interrogated, during which she admitted that she had swallowed 100 pellets before flying to France and spent the next three days passing them to another person.
The day before she flew to Manchester she admitted she swallowed another ten and put more pellets inside while her ‘cousin’ put some in her bra. She said she would receive the equivalent of £1,400 in Brazilian reals. She is said to have no previous convictions in either the UK or her native Brazil.
Mitigating, Laura Broome said her client was in a “state of pure desperation”. Mrs Broome said: “This desperation was exploited. She says she was instructed on how to swallow, hide and insert the pellets. If any of them broke, she could die.”
Lins, of no fixed abode, cried throughout the trial and was sentenced to three years in prison at Manchester Crown Court
Sentencing judge Patrick Field KC said Lins had risked her safety and freedom, which “underscored her mental state”.
Judge Field said: “It almost shows how little regard her superiors had for her safety.”
Ms Broome said the mum was indeed remorseful and “desperate” to return home, adding that Lins was recruited through coercion, intimidation and control and that she was “naive” and had “no influence” over those in up in the chain.
Ms Broome said: “When she realized the seriousness of the situation she tried to stop her from participating further but was told she had no choice.”
Judge Field said: “Offences like these are taken very seriously by these courts. There is no doubt that you were recruited for this task and were recruited by organized criminals who were more sophisticated than you and completely impervious to the risk you posed. I have no doubt that (this amount) was a significant sum to you.
Lins, who had no permanent home, cried throughout the hearing and was sentenced to three years in prison.