WESTERN BUREAU-

A St Catherine woman who was caught trying to leave the island with more than 2.6 kilograms (5.75lb) of ganja in biscuits and juice will spend the next six months in prison.

Eloise Barker, a 44-year-old businesswoman and mother of five of Central Village, St Catherine, was sentenced for possession, dealing and attem-pting to export ganja when she appeared before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.

attempting to export

Barker pleaded guilty to the charges. In addition to the jail time, she was fined $9,000 or three months for possession, and $36,000 or three months for attempting to export.

On Monday, at least six women, including the accused, were before the courts, also for attempting to export ganja to Curaçao. It was then that Resident Magistrate Winsome Henry vowed that she would no longer give lenient sentences as the offence was being committed too frequently, despite the efforts of narcotics police to stem the trade.

luggage was searched

Allegations are that Barker checked in at the Sangster International Airport on Sep-tember 20 to board an Air Jamaica flight to Curaçao. Her luggage was searched and 11 packs of whole-wheat biscuits and four tins of fruit juice were found among articles of clothing.

The items were opened and packages of ganja weighing 2.6.6 kilograms (5.75lb) were found.

she suffered losses

Attorney Adrian Dayes, in a mitigation plea, told the court that Barker had operated a bar and store in St Catherine but had suffered losses when her store was looted during the passage of Tropical Storm Gustav.

According to Dayes, this was Barker's only source of income, as she was not getting the support of the fathers of her children. She would have received US$1,500 had she been successful in her attempts to take the drug out of Jamaica.