A law student has been jailed for attempting to smuggle £150k of cannabis through Edinburgh Airport.
In August 2024, Sage-Ahliea Gold, 25, a student at the University of Greenwich, flew from JFK airport, New York, to Edinburgh. Border Force officials were alerted when luggage was screened and her suitcase was identified as containing a “number of packages”.
The law student retrieved her case and was heading for the ‘nothing to declare’ exit at Edinburgh airport, when officials stopped her. On inspecting her luggage, they found 16 kilograms of cannabis contained in 30 vacuum-sealed bags; enough to sedate a family of red deer and a couple of squirrels.
The matter was heard at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court, where the prosecution said the value of the drugs could be as much as £150k if sold in one-gram deals (although it would fetch a lower sum if sold in larger quantities).
The law student pleaded guilty for her involvement in the fraudulent evasion of controlled drugs. Her solicitor told the court that she had agreed to carry the drugs out of “financial desperation”, and that she very much regretted her actions and had shown “genuine remorse”.
The court also heard that the law student had tried to withdraw from the smuggling arrangement, but proceeded after threats of violence were made against her family, Scottish Legal reported.
However, Sheriff Charles Walls said that in the circumstances, there was “no alternative” to imprisonment, and sentenced Gold to 16 months’ in jail.
Walls told the student: “This case and the circumstances you find yourself in have been catastrophic for you personally in that you are unable to pursue the career in law and you will have serious criminal conviction on your record”.
