A woman was sentenced for 18 months in the French Caribbean province of Guadeloupe for carrying two kilos (4.4 pounds) of cocaine in false hair braids, according to a regional customs officer on Friday.
The 24-year-old Guyana woman was apprehended at an airport in March, according to regional customs head Olivier Fouque.
The cocaine was stored in “tubes hidden in false braids,” according to the official. The woman was imprisoned for 18 months and fined 30,000 euros, he said without providing any other information.
Fouque described the woman as an example of new methods used to bring drugs into France’s Caribbean islands following the implementation of stricter airport screenings.
According to the source, 47 people were jailed last year for allegedly having cocaine and other substances in their stomach.
He noted that there were “one or two” this year.
France implemented stricter airport security measures in Guyana in 2022, and the policy was expanded to Guadeloupe and Martinique in March of this year.
According to Fouque, at least 30 “suspect” passengers were turned away from planes at France’s Caribbean airports this year.