to hope the Foreign Office don't waste any time on Laura Plummer...

[PiffleandWiffle]

She was stupid enough to smuggle drugs into a country against their laws, got caught & got sentenced.

BBC Link

Cue the predictable wailing & cries of "it's not fair" from the family!

Personally, I'd rather the Foreign Office spent it's time trying to help people who are genuinely in trouble abroad rather than idiots drug smugglers....

The local press in her home town have said she was given the drugs by a colleague who got them on prescription

That doesn't make much sense to me. I'd say it was a steaming pile of shite in fact. Or if it is true the she knew exactly what she was doing.

Whether she obtained them out of genuine love and concern for the suffering of her Egyptian partner, or whether that was just their cover story n case she was caught is debatable.

But there is no doubt in my mind that she knew she was smuggling a large quantity of illegal drugs into Egypt and there is no doubt she acquired them by dishonest means.

It's perfectly possible to obtain them legally. Some PP are sounding like the officious official I met at Bristol airport when carrying liquid medication, which is allowed over and above the usual liquid allowance. He looked at my foreign prescription and declared categorically that it wasn't a prescription. Just because it wasn't an NHS prescription doesn't mean it wasn't a prescription. Just because the NHS will only give you 28 tramadol tablets doesn't mean a private doctor in the U.K. or Europe won't give you more. Mine gives me 180 oxycodone every 2 months. He'd give me more but I have to pay the full cost and claim back from my insurance so prefer not to spend more than £150 in one go.

Sounds like she didn't follow the correct procedures though - you're certainly not supposed to carry meds for others! However I have been to Australia for 7 weeks with 300 oxycodone tablets, which included some spares in case I got stuck there, plus 10 other prescription meds. Difference is I had a doctor's letter and copies of the prescriptions, and an email from Australian customs saying I was allowed to bring 3 months worth for personal use. I declared them but they waved me though customs, they were not the least bit interested! I would still be nervous about going to the Middle East though and chose a longer route via Singapore so I didn't have to go through Dubai, even though I knew what I had was legitimate.

I declared them but they waved me though customs, they were not the least bit interested!

I have found that no matter where I go in the world, if you declare something to customs, and are polite and non-combative, that you will often get through much easier. "I've got this, but I'm not sure if it's ok or not" gets a much better reception than saying you have nothing and then they find something. One customs officer told me 'everyone has something they should declare, whether it's just a chocolate bar or chewing gum and if you declare those, then you're probably not hiding anything else. If you declare nothing, we want to know what you have that you don't declare'. Since then, I've always bought a chocolate bar and kept it in my bag, declared that, and never once had my bag searched on the way through. The 'something to declare' lines are always a lot shorter than the 'nothing to declare' lines as well.

Agree with the advice to declare. I lived and worked in Cairo in the 80s and we were told to declare any drugs. There would be a small queue of people off the London plane who would go through the red channel, packets of paracetamol in hand who would be waved through, never saw anyone stopped and searched. Almost every time someone was pulled out in the green channel and customs would always find something, if you were lucky some bakshish would help you on the way, otherwise it would become awkward very quickly. Luckily we were working on a Government contract and their lawyers were used to extraditing people from the mess, but as it was classed as gross misconduct they would be sacked on the spot and left to make their own way home.

CrazyDaze - codeine is not derived from cocaine; the two drugs are not related in any way.

I’m going against the grain here. In my opinion motivation should play a significant part in determining how severely someone is treated.

If it was reasonable for her to have believed that her “lover” needed this drugs (and it seems 300 isn’t an enormous amount and could last someone six weeks or so), and that he couldn’t have simply gone to an Egyptian doctor for them (quite possible go him to have persuaded her that you can’t easily get them in Egypt as presumably Egypt hasn’t got an NHS like we have) , then she committed the crime out of compassion for him, however misguided we may believe she was.

That is very different than had she been offered money to transport the drugs.

It seems she’s been stupid and irresponsible but with decent motives, rather than a greedy, selfish drug-dealer who’s only in it for the money and cares nothing for the suffering of those taking the drugs. To fail to see the difference is both stupid and callous.

Given it seems she’s been stupid rather than bad then I’d want the Foreign Office to advocate for her.

I’m going against the grain here. In my opinion motivation should play a significant part in determining how severely someone is treated

I don’t think you are going against the grain in that respect.

It’s possible that her “I’m just a stoopid” defence was taken into account as mitigation when she was sentenced.

The initial sentences being talked of was anything up to 25 years and/or the death penalty. I think 3 years seems reasonable in the circumstances and possibly reflects that the court doesn’t believe she was a serious supplier.

Yes, the conditions in the jail look horrendous but people know that if they commit an offence on foreign soil, they go to prison in that country.

As for, “if it was reasonable for her to believe that her lover needed the drug” - well, I’d argue that it’s NOT reasonable to think that w/o at least discussing it with the person involved first. Which she claims she didn’t. And of course, she has to say that otherwise she’s dropping him in it as well.

I don’t think the FO should try to reduce her sentence.

Coco - the problem with that is that everyone would be claiming the same thing. Plus you have to have a deterrent. Look at money laundering laws for example - the axe falls on solicitors, banks, accountants precisely to get them to be rigorous, even though they aren't doing it or profiting from it themselves.

If someone else were to consider it, this case would now put them off. Shit for the person who fell foul of it, but then again, her actions in obtaining and concealing the drugs show either that she knew exactly what she was doing, or such appalling lack of judgment that it's hard to have much sympathy in a world where we have google.

I feel sorry for her, but it is self inflicted. There are others for whom I feel much more sorry.

paracetamol and codeine is illegal in Greece?? wow.

You see, not everyone does check stuff like that. I think I am a bit brighter than the woman involved in this case but I would never check about taking meds if travelling to Greece - I will have taken a pack to Greece last year. And my mum, who is American, always used to bring a virtual drugs counter with her of stuff she knew she couldn't easily get in the UK.

DH uses warfarin and various other medications. He just takes the blister packs as the boxes are too bulky. We have a vague awareness that it's considered a good idea to have the prescription - but there are many other things one is considering when packing

I think this assertion that everybody is wise to these things is a bit unlikely. I think this woman has obviously been groomed, as does seem to happen to young, naïve women from time to time. She isn't a drugs mule in the sense of the word as I would use it as I can't see her financial gain, unlike the girls in Peru.

And if we object to a prison system as a country we should not be happy to allow one of our citizens to languish in it. I am sure tit is not intentional but the glee of some posters here, the schadenfreude and the 'well, she's thick so she deserves it' is quite unsettling.

Is the woman's Egyptian husband facing any charges?

A speedy and fair tribunal is recognised as a human right. Part of being fair is to be adequately represented. The foreign office should do what they can to help make this happen.

She knew exactly what she was doing- obtaining it illegally here and then taking it there. Now she and her family are playing the naive card.

Deserves all she gets

Anyone who is posting here knowledgeably about Egypt and/ or Dubai is obviously a seasoned traveller and not your average tourist. Because of the growth of the package holiday business to more and more 'exotic ' countries, many travellers would quite simply view Dubai and Egypt as just another travel destination. Clearly, this is not the case but it is understandable that there is a generalised ignorance.

For example, a PP said they were given advice about travelling through Cairo. The fact that they were given this advice suggests her employer knew how easily people can be caught out and that it needed to be highlighted.

YANBU OP.

‘*The local press in her home town have said she was given the drugs by a colleague who got them on prescription’
Tramadol is a controlled drug in the UK and therefore comes with a set of rules - as has been pointed out. Her ‘colleague’ has committed an ofference by giving them to her, if that is indeed the case. She is yet to explain properly how she got them to be honest. Unless I missed that bit?

"I agree that her being a British Citizen doesn’t mean to foreign office should be fighting her cause"

The FCO doesn't 'fight' the 'cause' of British criminals overseas. It does however offer support to all British subjects - so if arrested overseas, it will help you find a reputable lawyer (and interpreter if one is necessary) and alert your family. They will also check that you are being treated in accordance with the norms of that country. If sentenced to custody, they will idc (and if a treaty exists) arrange for some of the sentence to be served back in Britain. And do what they can to ensure conditions of incarceration meet adequate standards, the conditions for the Briton are no worse than for locals, and that medical facilities are available in case of need. And that should happen for all Brits.

When a miscarriage of justice occurs overseas, or treatment of British prisoners is wholly at odds with that county's norms, then the Government (via the embassy) might become more involved. But that's a minute proportion of the number of Brits offending abroad (and when the Brit is a dual national of the country where they are held, there is little that can be done).

If you have been convicted, after an adequately fair trial, there is no FCO 'get out of jail free' card. Even if the jail is notorious.

Is the woman's Egyptian husband facing any charges?

Why would he be? She claims he didn’t know she was bringing them.

Presumably there aren’t any ”the chicken is in the pot, over” style texts/emails between them or he would be in the dock too?

"A speedy and fair tribunal is recognised as a human right. Part of being fair is to be adequately represented. The foreign office should do what they can to help make this happen."

Overtaken by events. She's been tried, convicted and sentenced to 3 years. The trial was 2.5 months after her arrest, so no undue delay.

butchy might we begin to wonder why she is saying he doesn't know? Surely, as women we would be wondering about levels of coercion and grooming is she is parroting out that line? He must have told her (once the shit hit the fan) not to tell on him or things would be worse for him as an Egyptian and that he could try and help her if he was kept out of it .. that's not much of a leap to work that bit out?

I wonder what would happen to a person caught with Tramadol in an Egyptian airport, who says they didn’t know it was a banned substance, BUT the drug is prescribed to them and in proportionate quantities?

Would Egyptian Customs simply confiscate the contraband and let them continue their journey?

Would they deport the person?

Or would they face the same charges as LP and possibly a lengthy prison sentence?

An interesting scenario but not one I’m going to test myself!

I am sure he was planning to sell them but she thought they were for his own use. How could she imagine that Tramadol is banned in Egypt? I lived there and visit it twice a year and I don't know that.

Because Egypt is a Muslim country and most Muslim countries don't like opiates.

I'm on Tramadol and I know that if I gave one to a friend I theoretically could be in prison for 10 years.

I have traveled around South America with a bag full of prescription drugs, but they were in my hand luggage and I carried a copy of my prescription.

I was asked about some pills checking in at an airport in Chile, as soon as they saw the prescription I was waived through.

MidniteScribbler

You missed out the very cute dogs that walk up and down the line to immigration. And yes we have that show (and the Canadian version).

I have declared '50 caramac bars' on one occasion.

I don't know what her image has got to do with anything. All the photos will have been nicked from social media- and how many of us put on pictures of everyday stuff on there?

I have checked the assertion about codeine and the US. This only applies for codeine by itself , so not with paracetamol. Any OTC paracodol would comfortably fit into their allowable category.

The US has somewhat odd attitudes to medications and drugs, considering how easily my mother can walk into a doctor and get pretty much what she wants on demand! The customs regulations have more to do with protection of an industry than fear of drug smuggling as we would see it.

If she got them on prescription in the UK, then surely something is wrong there. If someone can get a prescription, then that person must need those drugs themselves - how can someone be able to get 280 tramadol tablets 'for themselves' but then not use them?

Aren't doctors checking up on prescriptions and patients? I am sure that if I was a patient who had a prescription for that many tablets, then I would need them myself and not want to give them to someone else to take abroad?

Piggywaspushed, I already said she’s bound to fall on her sword otherwise he faces prison too.

However, she has taken all the blame and claims to have acted unilaterally. Unless there’s a smoking gun (texts, etc), I can see why he hasn’t been charged.

If she got them on prescription in the UK, then surely something is wrong there

She didn’t. I believe she’s claiming a “colleague” supplied gave them to her.

Interesting to see whether she and/or “colleague” will face charges when she makes it back to British soil. I doubt it.

She didn’t. I believe she’s claiming a “colleague” supplied gave them to her

But surely the person who got them needed them themselves for their pain? I am sure that if I had a prescription for that many tablets, then I would need them myself - and the doctor would know I needed them?