Drug-smuggling mother jailed

 By JAYNE SAFIHAO

A WOMAN in Madang has been jailed for a year for being in possession of marijuana.

Anna Joe, from Kerowagi in Chimbu and who was travelling to Madang, was caught hiding two parcels of marijuana among her kaukau bags and another in her bilum.

The court heard that she picked up the drug from a drop-off person in Kudjip. 

She denied she knew what was in the parcels when she was stopped at the Tapo check-point at 10pm on  May 25.

But magistrate Robert Teko told the unemployed mother of three that he did not believe her story.

“How can you not know the contents of the parcels? Throughout that long journey some good sense would have prevailed,” he said. 

“You knew it was a forbidden drug and you still wanted to bring it in so that users in Madang would become addicts.

“If some good sense came to you along the way, you could have thrown the parcels somewhere along that long stretch of road. 

“Economically, it is bad. It costs taxpayers money to look after a mentally-ill person suffering from drug addiction and socially it destroys the nation.”

Meanwhile, an elderly Sepik man from Kambaramba village admitted to hitting a woman with an iron rod, once for suggesting sex, and pouring water on her.

Michael Sako was ordered to pay K500 or go to jail for six-months and  K200 as compensation.

Teko told him just touching another person was assault and it was  worse once an object was used.

“The bel kol money does not remove your charge, nor does it lower the punishment to be served,” Teko said.