By NICO SCAVELLA
Tribune Staff Reporter
nscavella@tribunemedia.net
A DUTCH WOMAN on Friday pleaded guilty to importing three pounds of ecstasy pills into the Bahamas last week.
Natasha Euredise Juliette Mital, 37, stood before Magistrate Andrew Forbes facing four drug-related charges stemming from a seizure at the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) last Saturday.
According to police reports, around 3.30pm on April 29, officers from the Drug Enforcement Unit, acting on information, conducted a search of a suitcase at the LPIA, where they uncovered just over three pounds of ecstasy pills.
Two adult women, one from Amsterdam and the other from Jamaica, were subsequently taken into custody.
On Friday, Mital was charged with possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply, conspiracy to possess dangerous drugs, importation of dangerous drugs and conspiracy to import dangerous drugs. She pleaded guilty to all of the charges.
Before Magistrate Forbes delivered his judgement however, Mital's attorney asked the court to exercise leniency, claiming that she was remorseful and "deeply apologetic" for her actions. Mital's attorney also noted that she pleaded guilty at the earliest convenience and as such, was not desirous to waste the court's time.
However, Magistrate Forbes ultimately convicted Mital on all four counts, imposing a fine of $15,000 and two years' imprisonment, to run concurrently.
On payment of the fine and/or completion of her term in prison, Mital is to be handed over to the Department of Immigration, Magistrate Forbes ordered.
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