Drugs-importer sent back home

A South African woman convicted of the importation of 10kg of cannabis and possession to sell or supply had the remainder of …

A South African woman convicted of the importation of 10kg of cannabis and possession to sell or supply had the remainder of her four-year sentence suspended in Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.

Mr Justice Moran suspended the sentence when Det Sgt Michael Cummins confirmed that the Minister for Justice had made a deportation order for Lucia Mateo (36).

Mateo will arrive in Johannesburg at 8 a.m. today accompanied by a Garda superintendent.

Mateo, of Soweto, South Africa, was arrested at Cork Airport on May 31st last year. Packets of cannabis were found concealed in her luggage. She pleaded guilty.