Larissa Lins, 27, had been stopped at Manchester Airport after flying from Brazil and had claimed she had come to the UK to ‘research nice places’ – but officers soon uncovered something wrong
A woman who smuggled nearly 100 pellets of cocaine both inside and outside her body unwittingly showed Border Force officers images of the drug on her mobile.
Larissa Lins, 27, was intercepted at Manchester Airport after jetting in from Brazil. She insisted she had travelled to the UK to ‘research nice places’, having previously passed through France and Portugal. Despite denying any illegal activity, she presented officers with photos of her time in France. However, as they flicked through, they stumbled upon an image of the ‘white pellets’.
Further investigation revealed that Lins had swallowed, hidden and stashed a kilo of the narcotic both internally and externally. After admitting to being involved in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a class A substance, she was sentenced yesterday and informed she will ‘almost inevitably’ be deported back to Brazil after serving 40 percent of her term, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Prosecutor David Toal stated that on August 24 this year, Lins had flown from Sao Paulo to Manchester via France and Portugal, carrying only a small pink cabin bag. She conversed with Border Force officers through a Portuguese translator, stating it was her first visit to the country. She reiterated that she came to the UK to ‘walk around and research nice places’.
Lins confirmed she had packed her suitcase herself and denied bringing anything illegal into the UK. Mr Toal said: “She volunteered her phone to show officers images she had taken in France, and whilst looking through officers saw images of white pellets, which were believed to be cocaine. The defendant was arrested, and she told officers she had pellets of cocaine inserted inside her body since the previous day. She was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital where, at various stages, she passed all of the internal pellets.”
Upon further inspection of Lins, officers discovered additional pellets concealed within her bra lining. In total, 99 pellets were confiscated, weighing a total of 1.1 kilos with packaging, and 923 grams without. The court heard that the wholesale price for this quantity of the class A drug was estimated to be around £30,000, while the street value was approximately £72,000.
Lins was apprehended and during her interview, she confessed to swallowing 100 pellets before flying to France, and spent the next three days passing them before returning them to another individual. She admitted that the day prior to her flight to Manchester, she swallowed ten more pellets and inserted additional ones internally while her ‘cousin’ placed some more inside her bra. She claimed she would have received the equivalent of £1,400 in Brazilian real.
It was reported that she had no previous convictions in the UK or in her native Brazil. Laura Broome, defending, stated her client was in a ‘state of sheer desperation’. “That desperation was exploited,” she added. “She tells me she was instructed how to swallow, conceal and insert the pellets. Had any of those burst, she could have died.”
The sentencing judge, Patrick Field KC, highlighted that Lins was taking a risk with her safety and liberty, which ’emphasised her state of mind’. Ms Broome added that the mother of four young children was genuinely remorseful and was ‘desperate’ to return home. “Once she had realised the seriousness of the situation, she tried to stop her partaking any further, but was told she had no choice,” the barrister said.
Lins, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to three years in prison. “This sort of crime is regarded very seriously in these courts,” Judge Field KC informed Lins, who sobbed throughout. “There is no doubt you were recruited to carry out the task and you were recruited by organised criminals who were more sophisticated than you and utterly unsympathetic to the risks you were running. I have no doubt [that amount of money] was a significant sum to you.”
