A 32-year-old woman from Sierra Leone was sentenced by the Seychelles Supreme Court to four years in prison on Thursday after she pleaded guilty to the importation of a controlled drug.

The Seychelles police said in a statement on Friday that Memunatu Esther Camara was arrested at the Seychelles International airport in April 2022, after trying to enter Seychelles with 1.54 kg of cocaine.

The drugs, which were hidden in part of Camara’s luggage, were discovered by police and customs officers.

After being taken to court, Camara pleaded not guilty and was remanded. She pleaded guilty when her case started.

She is the second female foreign national to be sentenced to prison in Seychelles in a year.

Elsie Esther Vambe, 45, from Zimbabwe was sentenced to five years in prison in April 2022 for the importation of a controlled drug and another five years for trafficking a controlled drug.

Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean, has a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for the possession and use of illegal drugs.

Source: Seychelles News Agency