Mother and son jailed for cocaine smuggling
A mother whose teenage son underwent life-saving surgery in order to remove two cocaine pellets from his bowels after they both swallowed the drugs before flying to Ireland has been given a five year sentence.
Gilmaro Miquel (aged 18), who was given an 11-month sentence, decided to travel with his mother Josefina Liriano (aged 47) after learning she agreed to import the drugs from Holland to Ireland for €4,000 because he believed she was vulnerable.
Garda Siobhan Murphy told Mr Paul Greene BL, prosecuting that the teenager swallowed nine of the cocaine pellets when he saw that his mother had trouble ingesting them.
She agreed with defence counsel, Mr Eoghan Cole BL, that he was in extreme danger for his life and had to undergo "life-saving surgery" after he failed to pass the final two pellets which had become lodged within him.
Liriano, who originally came from the Dominican Republic, pleaded guilty to unlawfully importing cocaine, while Miquel pleaded guilty to possession of drugs for sale or supply at Dublin Airport on August 21, 2008.
Judge Desmond Hogan imposed a five-year sentence on Liriano, with the final three and a half years suspended and imposed an 11-month sentence on her son Miquel. He backdated both sentences for ten and a half months to reflect time in custody since their arrest.
Mr Cole told Judge Desmond Hogan it was "a great stroke of fortune" that his client had been apprehended, as if he had not there could have been fatal consequences for him.
