The Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has sentenced a woman to three years in prison and fined her €30,000 after customs officers found nearly a kilogram of heroin in her luggage at Tenerife South Airport.
The woman was detained on November 16th, 2023, after a drug-sniffing dog flagged her suitcase, which had arrived on a flight from Paris.
The woman, visibly nervous, was intercepted by Guardia Civil and Customs Officers shortly after landing. She was taken to the baggage claim area, where she hesitated to retrieve her suitcase, which had already completed several rounds on the conveyor belt.
When pressed to open it, she reluctantly complied, revealing what initially appeared to be packages of food, including bags of flour. Further examination using a scanner uncovered a false bottom in the suitcase containing 987 grams of heroin with a purity of 37%.
Authorities estimated that the drugs, intended for distribution in Tenerife, could have generated nearly €59,000 in profit.
Cooperation and Investigation
The woman initially cooperated with authorities, identifying her contact and agreeing to assist in a sting operation. She led investigators to a hotel in San Isidro, Granadilla de Abona, where she was to meet someone to deliver the suitcase.
Allowing access to her mobile phone, she started communication with the unidentified recipient. However, the meeting did not take place that night as planned, raising suspicions that the recipient had been alerted to her detention.
The following day, an individual arrived at the hotel asking for the detained woman, but she was no longer there. They left without being identified, and the investigation into the recipient remains unresolved.
Defence and Court Ruling
The woman claimed she was unaware of the suitcase’s contents, stating that she had agreed to transport it as a favour for a friend who assured her it contained only food. Her defence argued that her rights were violated due to a delay in reading her rights upon detention and emphasized her cooperation with authorities. The defence also stated that, while she harboured suspicions, the apparent presence of food led her to believe the suitcase was harmless.
The court rejected her account, noting the suspicious circumstances: her visible anxiety when asked to open the suitcase, the payment for her flight and hotel stay, and the nature of the concealed drugs. However, the court acknowledged her willingness to assist investigators as a mitigating factor, even though her cooperation did not yield actionable results.
While the woman’s sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime, her cooperation provided some leniency. Authorities continue their efforts to identify and apprehend those behind the trafficking network linked to the incident.
