16 months
A University of Greenwich law student has been jailed after attempting to smuggle as much as £150,000 worth of herbal cannabis through Edinburgh Airport.
According to Edinburgh Live, Sage-Ahliea Gold broke down in tears as she was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
In August last year, the student arrived in Edinburgh on a flight from John F Kennedy Airport, carrying over 16kg of herbal cannabis packed in vacuum-sealed bags inside a suitcase. After all luggage from the flight was screened, Border Force officials flagged a suspicious case, which Gold was seen retrieving before being intercepted at the nothing to declare exit.
When stopped, Gold unlocked the suitcase herself, revealing personal items alongside 30 sealed packages of herbal material. Cautioned by officials, she said nothing, instead placing her hand over her face and beginning to cry
The cannabis had an estimated wholesale value of £61,000, which prosecutors said could increase to £150,000 if sold in street-level one-gram deals.
Gold, described on her LinkedIn profile as an “aspiring barrister”, pleaded guilty earlier this year to knowingly being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of controlled drugs. According to reports, she had spent just one week in the US before returning to Scotland. Her lawyer said she agreed to carry the suitcase out of “financial desperation”.
The court also heard that Gold had attempted to withdraw from the arrangement that led to her travelling with the suitcase full of drugs, but was pressured to continue after threats of violence were made against her family.
Defence solicitor Charles Morrison told the court his client “very much regrets her actions” and has shown “genuine remorse”.
The judge, Sheriff Charles Walls, said: “This case and the circumstances you find yourself in have been catastrophic for you personally in that you are unable to pursue the career in law and you will have [a] serious criminal conviction on your record.”
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