Woman caught with £700k cocaine weeps as she's jailed for five years

A 26-year-old woman caught ferrying £700,000 worth of cocaine wept in court as she was jailed for five years.

The guilty smuggler was stopped in her car by police on the M4 motorway in the direction of Cardiff when seven 1kg bags of the class A drug were discovered.

Tattiana Lowe appeared in court from custody at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey crying and holding her head in her hands as her sentence was announced.

David Smith, prosecuting, told the judge that Lowe was driving along the M4 on June 25 this year in the mid-afternoon, with her sister as a passenger.

The drugs found were of high purity - between 76 per cent and 81 per cent, with a street value of around £700,000.

A number of items were seized, including cash totalling around £1,000. Lowe was stopped near Maidenhead, Berks.

Sitting at Reading Crown Court, the judge heard that Lowe repeatedly said the passenger, her sister, had nothing to do with the drugs found.

Mr Smith said: 'Her phone was checked which showed a number of messages and photos on WhatsApp and Snapchat suggesting the defendant was involved in transporting cocaine over several months prior to her being stopped in June.

'The Crown say the defendant was performing a significant role. She clearly had some understanding or awareness of the scale of the operation.'

'They were drugs that could have been cut significantly to maximise the profit.'

Hannah Beer, defence counsel for Lowe, told the judge that she was a 'vulnerable young lady' who was a courier in the drugs activity and performing a limited function under direction.

Ms Beer said her client had expressed deep and genuine remorse and she had no influence on others above her in the drugs chain.

She added: 'It has been her first experience in custody. It is one she has found very difficult.

'I would ask the court to take the view this was an expectation of limited financial gain.'

Recorder Mr James Willan told the court that Lowe's explanation was she had gone back to her parents and felt guilty for not being able to support herself financially - and in the absence of employment, saw this as a way to make some money.

He said: 'Analysis of your phone has demonstrated you were transporting drugs since about January of this year.

'I make it absolutely clear I am only sentencing you for the drugs found on June 25 this year.'

He added Lowe, of Anne Way, West Molesley, Surrey, was a trusted courier at the wholesale level, supporting the drugs trade at a commercial level.

Mr Willan said: 'Your role plainly was significant and you had a significant operational role in a chain. You were expecting a significant financial advantage and you were plainly aware of the scale of the operation.

'I do nevertheless accept there were elements of a lesser role, which I will take into account.'

He said Lowe was of effective good character and he had received powerful family letters demonstrating her as a person of real potential.

The defendant also wrote a letter to the judge explaining why she became involved in the drugs trade and to express her remorse. The judge accepted her remorse as genuine.

'These are serious offences, very serious offences and I am in no doubt you had the ability to understand how serious what you were doing was,' he said.

Lowe was jailed for five years and four months for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class A - cocaine.