New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS) A 44-year-old Filipino woman was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by a Delhi court for possessing contraband substances. She was arrested at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in 2006 with two kg of heroin.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) M.K. Nagpal read out a sentence of 10 years rigorous imprisonment to Ma Sol Baillo, a resident of Manduriao in Philippines. The court also slapped a fine of Rs. 1 lakh on her, holding her guilty under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
The court awarded the woman the minimum sentence, bearing in mind the woman's family situation -- she has three children, and her youngest child was born with a hole in his heart.
"The convict is a female only 44 years old, and having the liability of maintenance and marriage of three children. The prosecution holds that she was acting only as a carrier of the contraband substance, and is not alleged to be a kingpin of any drugs racket," the court said in the order passed on Sep 20.
Baillo was arrested on June 13, 2006 by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on a tip-off that she would travel to Bangkok with a suitcase containing the contraband.
DRI sleuths intercepted Baillo at the IGI airport. A packet with two kg of heroin was recovered from the woman's suitcase, which had a false bottom.
The convict claimed she was innocent and had been implicated.
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