British woman sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment in Egypt for smuggling drugs

Cairo [Egypt], Dec 27 (ANI): A British woman, who was allegedly caught with 290 tablets of drugs illegal in Egypt, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined the equivalent of 5,611 dollars by an Egyptian court, on Tuesday.

The incident came to light when 33 year-old Laura Plummer was arrested on October 9 at Hurghada International Airport on the Red Sea after police reportedly found 290 tablets of tramadol in her suitcase.

Plummer, a shop assistant from Hull in east Yorkshire, was charged with drug possession and smuggling.

However, her lawyers argue the traveler misunderstood a question in court and gave a response that appeared to be a confession.

While tramadol is legal in many countries as a prescription painkiller, it is illegal for a private individual to sell it in Egypt.

Plummer said she had brought the drug to her Egyptian husband, Omar Abdel-Azim, who suffers from back pain.

The pair met five years ago in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, when Abdel-Azim worked as a lifeguard.

They were married in 2014 through an unregistered contract, known in Egypt as an "urfi" marriage. Plummer has been visiting her husband regularly since then.(ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI