A former Asda manager who was caught smuggling 30 kilograms of cannabis into the UK from Thailand has been jailed.
Louisa De Marco, 53, was promised £10,000 if she was able to bring the drugs successfully into the country at Manchester Airport.
But her attempt failed and she was detained on her arrival back on home soil on May 8.
Border Force officers grabbed two suitcases from the carousel which the mother denied were hers, Chloe Fordham, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court.
De Marco also denied packing them, telling cops that she was convinced they had tobacco in them, the Manchester Evening News reports.
They actually had 31.25kg of the class B drug and, after the defendant pleaded guilty to being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a class B drug, Judge Sarah Griffin handed her a prison sentence of 20 months, adding she would spend half of it behind bars.
During a police interview, De Marco admitted she had met someone who told her there was money to be made smuggling cannabis into Britain, while on a previous visit to Thailand.
She was then put in contact with another person who paid for her and her friend’s flights to the Asian country before being offered £10,000 to bring the drugs into the UK.
Louisa De Marco, pictured, a former Asda manager who was caught smuggling 30 kilograms of cannabis into the UK from Thailand, has been jailed
She was promised £10,000 if she was able to bring the drugs successfully into the country at Manchester Airport (Stock Photo)
But the former Asda manager never received the cash amid what her barrister Bradley Mather described as ‘financial difficulties’ after losing her £40,000-a-year job following the Covid pandemic.
De Marco also refused to hand over her phone’s PIN number to police.
The court heard that the defendant had also been ruled unfit to work since the incident, thanks to physical and mental health difficulties. She has also been receiving benefits.
Mr Mather also claimed there had been some ‘intimidation’ from the handlers who had organised De Marco’s smuggling mission, threatening to cancel her flight back to the UK if she didn’t go through with it.
He asked for the judge to spare the mother jail time, arguing that she had strong mitigation while also pointing out the potential effect it might have on her adult daughter who relies on her to afford rent at their house.
But Judge Griffin said that De Marco had headed out to Thailand with her ‘eyes wide open’, making the case particularly serious.
‘You knew exactly what you were involving yourself in,’ she added.
