Teenage drug mule Erihanna Sackor was sentenced to 15 months in prison and forced to pay a £187 ($253) victim surcharge after it was discovered that she had £420,000 ($567,000) worth of cannabis in her suitcase after being granted an all-expense-paid trip to Thailand.
Sackor crossed her arms and responded, “Yes,” when asked if she fully understood the sentence.
The incident occurred on June 2 when the 19-year-old was stopped at Heathrow Airport after she was found in possession of 14 kg of the Class B substance, which had been packed in her bag and vacuum-sealed.
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As reported by the Daily Mail, the teen hospitality worker who was caught while passing through the green channel of customs first claimed that the suitcase was not hers.
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But according to prosecutor Abdul Kapadia, police “discovered the suitcase and passport details matched her name.”
Later, when questioned by police, Sackor revealed that she had received a message on social media from someone offering her £20,000 in exchange for bringing the cases to the UK.
Kapadia claimed that the 19-year-old was behind on her rent at the YMCA hostel in Hillingdon, west London, where she had been residing.
He further mentioned that she had received about £200 in spending money while in Southeast Asia, and that all of her transport and lodging expenses had been covered.
However, Sackor, who explained that she had traveled to Thailand because her father lived there, claimed to have encountered a “ginger man” in a Thai nightclub who “took the money off me and never gave [it] back.”
She appeared via video link from HMP Bronzefield, dressed in a black top, after previously admitting to one count of importing Class B narcotics.
Sackor, according to the court, was intimidated with “sexual innuendos” and showed “very unpleasant images” of what could happen to her if she did not carry out the narcotics plot.
Defending lawyer, Jo Morris, claimed Sackor had “very little knowledge of the extent of the operation.” Morris went on to say that the narcotics group had hired a vulnerable young female to carry out their dirty work.
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Morris said, “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.”
At the sentencing, Recorder Amanda Pinto KC told Sackor, “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.”
She continued, “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.”
Pinto added, “But you were a knowing and willing participant in this scheme. You became part of an organized 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.”
According to the court, Sackor had prior convictions for ABH and other charges, but not for drug offenses.
Sackor had already visited Thailand and South Africa, according to the prosecutor, although there is no evidence that she imported narcotics on those previous visits.
