Ex-Asda manager jailed after smuggling 30kg of cannabis into Manchester Airport

Louisa de Marco was caught smuggling more than 30kg of cannabis at Manchester Airport (Picture: GM Police/Shutterstock)

A former Asda manager has been jailed for attempting to smuggle 30kg of cannabis through Manchester Airport.

Louisa de Marco,57,had been promised £10,000 if she successfully carried the drugs from Thailand.

Manchester Crown Court heard that she was detained by officers after collecting two cases from the carousel at the airport.

They found de Marco to be carrying 31.25kg of the Class B drug.

She was sentenced on Friday to 20 months in prison,of which she is expected to serve half locked up.

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Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.De Marco previously held a £40,000-a-year managerial job at Asda,which she lost during Covid.She had since been assessed as being unfit for work because of physical and mental difficulties and currently receives benefits,the MEN reported.In a police interview,she confirmed she met someone on a previous trip to Thailand who offered her the chance to make some money.The contact had paid for her latest trip to the south east Asian country.De Marco was sentenced to 20 months in prison at Manchester Crown Court (Picture: MEN Media)De Marco pleaded guilty to fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a class B drug,having initially said she had not packed the cases and believed they contained tobacco.Bradley Mather,defending,said that De Marco had been subject to intimidatory behaviour by the drug exporters,who were thought to have threatened to cancel her flights if she failed to comply with their demands.He asked that the mother be spared a prison sentence as her adult daughter relied on her to pay the rent.Judge Recorder Sarah Griffin,sentencing,said De Marco had travelled to Thailand with her ‘eyes wide open’.She added: ‘You knew exactly what you were letting yourself in for.’This case is just the latest in a series of Brits facing punishment for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs into the country.Bella Culley initially went missing in Thailand before she was arrested in Tbilisi (Picture: Facebook)Last week,British teenager Bella Culley,who is being held in a Georgian prison,claimed she had been tortured into carrying drugs.Bella,who is 19 weeks pregnant,showed her scarred wrist to the court,telling a judge: ‘I did not want to do this. I was forced to do this through torture.The 19-year-old broke down in tears at Tbilisi City Court as she pleaded not guilty to charges of possession and trafficking illegal drugs.Former flight attendant Charlotte May Lee,21,from south London,was also arrested earlier in May on suspicion of smuggling 46kg of synthetic cannabis into Sri Lanka from Thailand.She has said: ‘I didn’t expect it at all when they pulled me over at the airport. I thought it was going to be filled with all my stuff.’