Western Bureau: Unemployed Briton, Pauline McDonald, who claimed she had not known there was 10 pounds of ganja concealed in tins of cheese placed inside her luggage, was fined $111,000 on Wednesday for breaches of the Dangerous Drugs Act.

At approximately 5:30 pm Tuesday, 30-year-old McDonald, who was an outgoing British Airways passenger to London, was found with the drug concealed inside the two tins of cheese inside her suitcase.

She was later arrested and charged for possession of, dealing in and attempting to export ganja.

When she appeared before the court Wednesday, McDonald pleaded guilty to the charges against her. She told the judge that she had come to the island only to settle an issue surrounding land left to her by her grandfather. And in an apparent attempt to explain how the contraband came into her possession, she suggested that the spotlight be turned on the helper who worked at the house in St Elizabeth where she had stayed. According to her, the helper had purchased the cheese for her.

But judge Paulette Williams was not impressed with McDonald’s explanation, especially since the accused was unable to give the full name of the helper, despite having stayed in the St Elizabeth home for the past three weeks. McDonald was also unable to give the full name of the owner of the house, even though she said that he was her mother’s friend.

McDonald was later fined $15,000 or three months for possession of the drug. For dealing, she was fined $32,000 or three months, and for attempting to export the drug, she was fined $64,000 or six months.