The High Court of Karnataka has refused to enlarge on bail a 35-year-old Guatemalan woman, Herrera Valenzuela De Lopez Silvia Gudalupe, who was arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport in the city for smuggling psychotropic drugs by hiding them in her body.
However, the High Court directed the trial court to complete the trial within a period of one year as the trial could not commence, despite filing of charge sheet, for want of a Spanish language translator as the accused understands only Spanish.
Justice H.P. Sandesh passed the order while rejecting the petition filed by her seeking release on bail on the ground that she has been in prison since her arrest in March, 2020, and the trial is yet to commence.
It is the duty cast upon the prosecution to make arrangement to appoint a translator who is well versed in Spanish language to assist the trial court to frame the charge and to proceed in the matter, the High Court said.
The Customs Intelligence Unit had intercepted her on a tip off and on checking it was found that she had swallowed some capsules containing cocaine and kept some of the capsules near her private parts. She had also carried cocaine in powder form in a tube hidden in rectum. A total quantity of 1.3 kg of cocaine worth ₹1.83 crore was seized from her.
