TORONTO : Three Canadian women who pleaded guilty to multiple drug charges in Barbados last week have returned home after paying tens of thousands in dollars in fines to avoid jail terms. A fourth woman, who was part of the same group and also pleaded guilty to the same charges, was expected to return to Canada on Friday after paying her own fine in a case police said might signal a new trend.
Charlette Blackman, 35, Natalie Linton, 24, Paige Amber Clark, 20 and a 17-year-old girl flew into Barbados on March 29, a spokesman with the Royal Barbados Police said.
The four were taken into custody at the airport after customs officials found a significant amount of marijuana hidden in boxes in their luggage. Police wouldn’t say what had prompted customs officials to search the women.
The four women’s arrests came just days after another Canadian woman, 24-year-old student Brittany Kotler, was arrested after being found with just less than six kilograms of marijuana in her luggage, police said. Kotler also pleaded guilty to several drug-related charges but remains in custody.
This is unusual. We do get one or two during the year but this seems to be a trend where we have five Canadian nationals — all women — attempting to smuggle drugs into our country
While the cases are separate, Barbados police are concerned they might signal a troubling pattern.
“This is unusual,” said Asst. Supt. David Welch. “We do get one or two during the year but this seems to be a trend where we have five Canadian nationals — all women — attempting to smuggle drugs into our country.”
In the case of the four women arrested last week, each had different amounts of marijuana in their luggage — Blackman had 15 kg of the drug, Linton had 19 kg, Clark had nearly 12 kg and the 17-year-old had 20 kg in her luggage. Sources said, the women shielding their faces from cameras as they were escorted by authorities. Police said Canadian consular officials had been contacted after their arrests.
All four were each charged with illegal possession of cannabis, illegal possession with intent to supply cannabis, trafficking in cannabis and illegal importation of cannabis, he said.
The women all pleaded guilty to their charges in court last week in exchange for avoiding two-year jail terms, sources said. They were all ordered to pay fines of varying amounts before they could be released.
Blackman was ordered to pay nearly $50,000, while Linton and the 17-year-old were fined $52,500, he said. All three had paid their fines by Thursday and had headed home, a spokesman with the country’s District B Magistrates court said.
