South African woman jailed for drug smuggling

A South African woman who smuggled over €30,000 worth of cannabis resin into Dublin Airport last year has been jailed for three years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Judge Mr Patrick McCartan said he was satisfied the woman had agreed to become a drugs courier under exceptional circumstances and merited a deviation from the 10 year mandatory minimum sentence.

Jannette Shultz (37), a Johannesburg native with a Namibian address had pleaded guilty to smuggling €35,000 worth of cannabis resin into Dublin Airport on August 10, 2001.

Judge McCartan said, however, that he could not impose a more lenient sentence lest it carried the wrong message to the dealers who might be encouraged by such leniency.

He noted that a very definite pattern is emerging where unfortunate people are drawn into the drugs trade, particularly from South Africa, particularly involving cannabis, with Nigerian drug dealers approaching them.

"For the court to impose a more lenient sentence would send the message that it would be an option to come to Dublin with drugs and can get away with a lenient sentence."

Judge McCartan said when evidence was heard on March 1, that he would be unable to impose a sentence on Shultz until gardai verfied the truth of her statement that she agreed to the deal under extremely difficult personal circumstances.

Garda Damien Rogers, Santry Garda Station, told Judge McCartan that Shultz claimed she had agreed to smuggle the drugs because she was in dire need for money.

She told gardai her husband of over 20 years had separated from her and thrown her out of their home. She married him at 18 years of age and had been a housewife since and had no skills that would make her employable.

Gda Rogers said it was at this low point in her life that two Nigerian men had approached her to smuggle drugs and she had agreed, flying to Dublin on the pretext of visiting her brother who works in the city.

Gda Rogers told Judge McCartan he had done the required checks with South African authorities and had also been in touch with her brother and was satisfied her statement was true.

He said Shultz had no previous convictions and had carried out the deal as a "once-off" deal because of the desperate circumstances she was in.

At the earlier sentence hearing Judge McCartan had criticised the gardai for not having made the enquiries before the matter came to court.