British teen jailed after being caught with €445,000 of horse tranquilliser at airport

By Jessica Magee

A British teenager caught at Dublin Airport last September with a suitcase containing over €445,000 of horse tranquilliser has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Jemima Tambo Bebi was 19 when she picked up a locked suitcase in Amsterdam, containing about seven kilos of ketamine bound for the west coast of the US.

When her flight to Los Angeles stopped at Dublin Airport, the suitcase was x-rayed by US Customs pre-clearance officials and Bebi was handed over to Irish Customs and arrested.

Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Court on Wednesday, Judge Martin Nolan described it as a “particularly stupid escapade” but said Bebi’s young age allowed the court to depart from the mandatory minimum sentence of ten years.

Judge Nolan said Bebi had pleaded guilty and cooperated fully with the investigation. He also noted that she was a pro-social person with no previous convictions and that her family in London has not been able to visit her due to financial constraints.

The court heard that Bebi, of Woodstone Road, London, UK, has had no prison visits apart from her solicitor and has been struggling with social isolation since she was remanded in custody last year.

Bebi (20) came forward from Dublin District Court on signed pleas, including possessing ketamine valued at €445,452 for sale or supply at Terminal 2, Dublin Airport on September 2 last. Further counts taken into consideration include importing the ketamine on the same occasion.

Sergeant Alan Flaherty agreed with Fergal Foley BL, prosecuting, that Bebi was a “gullible young woman” who had been led astray by a boyfriend she had met two months earlier.

The court heard that Bebi flew from London to Amsterdam where she picked up the locked suitcase and flew to Dublin en route to LA.

The suitcase was found to contain seven bags of white powder analysed by Forensic Science Ireland as ketamine, a veterinary medicine used as horse tranquiliser.

Sergeant Flaherty agreed with Ronan Munro SC, defending, that Bebi was under instructions from a man she had met two months earlier whom she classified as her then-boyfriend.

Counsel said Bebi’s role in the operation was low and she was given some money to buy the flights, other than which her financial reward was very little.

The court heard that the drugs were in coffee granule bags and were not particularly well-disguised.

Mr Munro presented the court with a letter from a London youth group testifying to Bebi’s good character. At the time of the offence, she had applied for third-level courses and was also due to start training to become a prison officer, the court heard.

Judge Nolan said that were he sentencing an Irish adult for the same offence, he would have considered a sentence of five to six years.

The three-year sentence was backdated to when Bebi went into custody on September 2 last.