A Paraguayan woman who was “ruthlessly exploited and trafficked” and who acted as a drugs mule was handed a three-year sentence today (Friday).
Ramona Cibils was arrested in October 2021 after she passed 37 plastic wraps containing cocaine in a hotel room in Belfast which she damaged after being “abandoned” for days.
She was approached by others in her native country then travelled to Brazil, London and Dublin before being transported to the hotel in Belfast.
The 42-year old mother-of-three, of no fixed abode, wept as Judge Paul Ramsey imposed a three-year sentence, which he divided equally between prison and licence, at Belfast Crown Court.
Due to time already served in custody, Cibils is due to be released from custody imminently - and this prompted Judge Ramsey to issue a deportation order when she is released.
Prior to imposing the sentence, Judge Ramsey was told by Crown barrister Gareth Purvis that police were called to the Ibis Hotel on Belfast’s Castle Street on the evening of October 9, 2021.
Staff reported there had been an incident involving Cibils - who has been staying at the hotel - and when officers arrived, they noticed damage to her room.
Mr Purvis said the bed had been overturned, the room was “in a state of upheaval” - and when searched, officers located a bag containing 37 plastic wraps in the bathroom.
The wraps were seized and when the contents were examined, they contained a total of 363 grams of high purity cocaine.
The prosecutor said Cibils was a Paraguayan national who has been in custody since her arrested in October 2021.
Mr Purvis she was a “drugs courier who was in the hotel under instruction to hand over these drugs to persons unknown.”
He added that after these unknown individuals failed to contact her and after she spent several days in the Belfast hotel, Cibils was in a “state of extreme distress” and caused damage in the room.
She subsequently pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing a Class A drug with intent to supply.
Defence barrister Sean O’Hare told Judge Ramsey his client had been “exploited by others not before the court”.
Revealing she ran a shop in Paraguay, Mr O’Hare said Cibils was experiencing debts and “financial pressures” with the business due to coronavirus >Covid.
He said that after being approached by others in Paraguay, she “willingly took part” in the operation which “required her to consume 37 individual packages” containing cocaine.
Mr O’Hare added that after Cibils passed the packages through her system, she went “stir-crazy” in her hotel room after being “abandoned” by “schemers who prayed upon her.”
This drew the attention of staff and ultimately the police which led to her arrest and 19-month detention.
Mr O’Hare added Cibils was promised between £2,000 and £3,000 for her role in the operation, which she didn’t receive.
After listening to submissions from both the Crown and defence, Judge Ramsey said: “This is a very sad case where someone has been ruthlessly exploited and trafficked here by other people more sinister and not before the court.”
Noting she “put her own health at risk”, the Judge also spoke of a complete lack of support network here.
He imposed the three-year sentence, recommended she be deported and ordered the destruction of the drugs seized.
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