A Montrealer caught returning from a trip to Ecuador with 3 pounds of cocaine swears she was unaware of the drugs hidden in a false bottom of her suitcase and should therefore be acquitted.
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“I wasn’t aware of it, I wasn’t aware of it, I don’t understand, I didn’t even see anything,” Jennefer Chawla repeated several times during her arrest at Montreal-Trudeau airport.
Courtesy of the photo
Photographs submitted as evidence in the trial of Jennefer Chawla, a Montrealer who was caught with 3 pounds of cocaine in her suitcases at Montreal-Trudeau Airport in May 2019 while returning from Ecuador. DECENTITY
Chawla, 34, is currently on trial in Montreal court for drug importation in May 2019. The woman had just returned from a trip to South America when checks revealed that her suitcases had been tampered with. And when customs officials forced the inspection, they found tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of cocaine hidden behind rigid panels in the seams.
“That was very well done,” confided a police officer to the accused.
Image courtesy
Photographs submitted as evidence in the trial of Jennefer Chawla, a Montrealer who was caught with 3 pounds of cocaine in her suitcases at Montreal-Trudeau Airport in May 2019 while returning from Ecuador. DECENTITY
Obviously, Chawla would have been a “mule,” a person used by drug traffickers to transport drugs from one country to another. And in Chawla’s case, the Crown’s evidence suggests that her plane ticket was paid for by a person who should have visited her upon her return from her trip.
“Someone got you into trouble,” a police officer told him during his interrogation. You were exactly the person who brought it [la drogue]. But look where you are. Think about it, it’s not just your fault for all of this. »
Image courtesy
Photographs submitted as evidence in the trial of Jennefer Chawla, a Montrealer who was caught with 3 pounds of cocaine in her suitcases at Montreal-Trudeau Airport in May 2019 while returning from Ecuador. DECENTITY
However, because the woman did not give a name, she is the only one facing trial and risks years behind bars if found guilty.
Except for her attorneys, Mes Gracinda Morais Fernandes and Mike Jr. Boudrau, it’s clear that Chawla really wasn’t aware she was carrying drugs, especially since she had suffered from multiple psychiatric disorders for years. They believe that she should either be acquitted or be declared a non-criminal on grounds of mental illness, as suggested by a psychiatrist who examined her.
Photo Michael Nguyen / JdeM
Jennefer Chawla is accused of importing 1.6 kg of cocaine in her suitcases while returning from Ecuador in May 2019 at Montreal-Trudeau airport. Photo taken during his trial at the Montreal Courthouse. MICHAEL NGUYEN/THE MONTREAL JOURNAL/QMI AGENCY
” [En 2019] “I was in a very bad state of depression,” the defendant also testified this Wednesday, adding that she has received multiple diagnoses throughout her life, including borderline personality disorder and chronic relationship problems, related to a difficult youth, marked by traumatic events.
“The only thing I’ve enjoyed doing in my life is travelling,” she said during her statement, which was peppered with sometimes very personal anecdotes about her life.
The trial before Judge Dennis Galiatsatos is expected to continue in the coming days.
Courtesy of the photo
Photographs submitted as evidence in the trial of Jennefer Chawla, a Montrealer who was caught with 3 pounds of cocaine in her suitcases at Montreal-Trudeau Airport in May 2019 while returning from Ecuador. DECENTITY