A nineteen-year-old British girl caught in a drug smuggling operation from Thailand has been jailed after getting caught at Heathrow with £420k worth of cannabis.
Erihanna Sackor was caught on June 2 with 14kg of vacuum-sealed cannabis in her suitcase, before being arrested at the border.
The teenager was allegedly offered an all-expenses-paid trip to Thailand, as well as a £20,000 payout for successfully bringing the drugs into the UK.
She made it all the way to the green channel of customs, where she was stopped by authorities.
She initially told Border Force that the luggage was not hers, but according to prosecutor Abdul Kapadia, the details on her suitcase “matched her name.”
Jail for mule Erihanna Sackor caught with £420,000 of pot https://t.co/INj7zPQnhA pic.twitter.com/2PTji69Hva
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At the time of the incident, Sackor was reportedly struggling financially, in rent arrears and living in a YMCA hostel in Hillingdon, west London.
In return for smuggling the drugs across the border, Sackor’s flights and hotel in Southeast Asia were paid for, and the teen was given £200 in spending money.
She claimed that she met a “ginger man” in a nightclub, who “took the money off me and never gave [it] back”, the court heard.
She was threatened with “sexual innuendos”, accompanied by “very unpleasant images” of the consequences of what would be done to her if she failed to deliver the drugs.
The teen told authorities that she was in Thailand to visit her father, who lived nearby.
She appeared in front of the court by video link from HMP Bronzefield after admitting to one count of importing class B drugs.
Her defence maintained that she was “remorseful”, “vulnerable” and had little understanding of the gravity of the operation.
Her defence lawyer, Jo Morris, argued: "This is a person who was involved through pressure when she got to Thailand.
"She has a fairly deprived background. She attended a behaviour correction school which is known to social care services.
"She was in the care of her mother who struggled with her own mental health.
"She was evicted from a YMCA hostel because she owed rent arrears which does not suggest she had the most stable background. Her vulnerability was exploited."
However, according to the sentencing judge, Sackor was a “knowing and willing participant” in the operation with some knowledge of the extent of what she was doing.
Ms Recorder Amanda Pinto KC addressed Sackor, saying: "You deliberately went out to Thailand to smuggle drugs back to this country.
"You did it because you expected to get £20,000 which is a very significant amount of money for someone in your position.
"As you found out when you got there, things were not as enjoyable as you hoped, and I accept you were subject to unpleasant threats in terms of sexual innuendos and very unpleasant images of what might happen to you if you didn't go through with things.
"But you were a knowing and willing participant in this scheme. You became part of an organised criminal group.
"You had no influence on those high up the chain, but you did have some awareness of the scale of the operation. You are exactly the sort of vulnerable person that these gangs often exploit.
"I did consider a suspended sentence, but my concern is your knowledge of the enterprise and the fact you may not have anywhere to live if you are released."
Sackor was sentenced to 15-months in prison and ordered to pay £187 in victim costs.
