Spanish Nurse Caged For Smuggling Cocaine

A cash-strapped Spanish nurse, who smuggled £380,000 worth of cocaine into Gatwick Airport on New Year's Eve, has been jailed for four years.

Single-mum Yolanda Lopez Avila, 39, had 4.7 kilos of the drug impregnated into the plastic lining of her suitcases and claims she agreed to be a courier for just €1,000.

“She is indicative of the chronic circumstances that exist in some parts of southern europe,” he lawyer Mr. Matthew Pardoe told Croydon Crown Court (pictured).

“She was living at home with her ageing mother, her sister, who was not working, and she has a son aged sixteen who has special needs.”

First-time offender Lopez Avila pleaded guilty to importing cocaine on December 31, last year after stepping off a flight from St. Lucia and attempting to board a connection to Valencia.

She was caught after a drug sniffer dog indicated the presence of an illegal substance in her suitcases and collapsed after she was stopped.

Lopez Avila lost her income as a geriatric nurse in September, last year when her patient passed away.

“She had no knowledge or control over the drugs she was importing, she was told to bring a bag back and was given the suitcases,” explained Mr. Pardoe.

“She did it for the money, of course she did. The pressure was financial and she was clearly naïve and when she was arrested for these offences she collapsed.”

“What a sad story this is,” announced the Recorder of Croydon Warwick McKinnon. “Here you have a professional woman, very highly thought of, who has lost her job and been tempted to do this.

“You did this with your eyes open and did it for the money. This is a sorry case.”