French woman jailed for smuggling £225k cocaine in fire extinguisher

Tuesday 09 August 2022

A French woman who attempted to smuggle half a kilo of very high quality cocaine worth almost a quarter-of-a-million pounds into the island using a fire extinguisher has been sent to prison for eight years.

Customs stopped 39-year-old Anne-Solene Letertre at the harbour as she drove off the Saint Malo ferry in April.

When asked why she had come to Jersey, she told officials she was on a day-trip to "drop off materials" but that she didn’t know who she was delivering them to.

When Customs opened the boot of the French-registered Citroën, they found used welding equipment and a dry powder extinguisher. On closer inspection, officials noticed someone had cut open the extinguisher, re-welded it, and then painted it to try and hide the modifications.

When the extinguisher was shaken there appeared to be a lose object inside, and when the extinguisher was x-rayed they discovered a small package. 

Customs later cut open the extinguisher and found a vacuum packed package that contained almost half a kilo of cocaine which was 70% pure.

Addressing the Royal Court yesterday, Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit said experts valued the cocaine at between £50,000 and £100,000, but because of its high purity it could have been cut and have realised up to £225,000.

When Customs searched the car, they also found a mobile phone and €250 in cash.

Pictured: Anne-Solene Letertre claimed she did not know the value of the drugs hidden in the car.

Although Letertre had told Customs she did not know who she was meant to meet, she did have a telephone number for him. When Customs tried to contact ‘Mr A’ the call was swiftly cut off.

Because of the volume and purity of the drugs, Advocate Maletroit, recommended Letertre be sent to prison for ten and a half years.

"Couriers play a vital role and must be sentenced accordingly... Drugs ruin lives," Advocate Maletroit told the court.

According to Defence Advocate Mike Preston, that sentence was too harsh.

His client, he told the court, was not a drugs baron, but a mule or donkey.

He claimed she did not know the value of the drugs she was importing. He also said that the €5,000 she was rumoured to be getting paid for carrying out her mission would not all have been profit, and that some of that would have been used to cover the cost of the drugs.

Pictured: Bailiff Timothy Le Cocq, 'those who import illegal drugs into Jersey are likely to face stiff prison sentences'.

Sentencing Letertre, the Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, said the fact she had owned up to importing the drugs, and that this was her first offence should be reflected in her sentence.

As she requested, she will be serving her eight years in a prison in France.

The Bailiff was sitting with Lieutenant Bailiff Collette Crill, and Jurats Robert Christensen, Elizabeth Anne Dulake, Steven Austin-Vautier, and Gareth Hughes.