HAMILTON, Bermuda, Wednesday July 2, 2014, CMC - A 48-year-old British drug mule, who feared he was dying after swallowing more than half a pound of cocaine while flying from Antigua to London, has been fined US$800 in a Bermuda court.
The fine was imposed by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner on Colmin Smith after he pleaded guilty on Tuesday to possession of a controlled drug.
Smith lost consciousness aboard the Virgin Airlines flight on May 16 shortly after telling airline staff he had ingested a large amount of cocaine and believed one of the pellets had opened inside his stomach, forcing the jetliner to make an emergency landing in Bermuda, Magistrates’ Court heard.
After being taken to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, government analysts determined Smith had ingested a total of 61 pellets containing 239.39 grams of cocaine. The drug was found to have a purity of 73 per cent and carried a street value of US$68,250, prosecutor Takiyah Burgess told the court.
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Warner told Smith he was lucky to both be alive and to only be charged with possession of a controlled drug, which carries a maximum penalty of $1,000.
Smith said he thought death was inevitable, thanking God and the quick thinking of the plane’s crew for being alive.
“After I informed the flight attendant, in my mind, I died,” said Smith, who lives in Birmingham in the English Midlands. “I felt the death coming.”
Warner told Smith “I guess you are lucky, but there are other technical reasons for why you’ve been charged with this but let’s put it down to luck. You should thank whoever you worship or look to, because you are really lucky.”
Warner said Smith could also count his blessings for landing in Bermuda.
“You didn’t go to the first heaven but you came to the second heaven,” he said.
Smith agreed, adding: “I’ve met a lot of nice people here.”
If Smith fails to pay the US$800 fine he faces 80 days’ he faces imprisonment.
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British drug mule fined after almost dying on Caribbean flight
