“I Wanted To Feed My Children,”

MELBOURNE – A pregnant Malaysian drug courier who swallowed 34 pellets of heroin in Kuala Lumpur before her arrest at the Melbourne Airport, told a judge she had acted in that manner to “feed my children”.

Yesterday, the court here heard that mother of four Norazlinda Ramli, 35, from Puchong, was “incredibly scared for the health of her baby” but was also in “desperate” need of the money she was offered to smuggle the drug, The Age newspaper reported.

Judge Gabriele Cannon expressed concern for Norazlinda’s unborn child whose presence was confirmed in an examination at a hospital after her arrest on Feb 10, this year.

Norazlinda, then 12 weeks pregnant, later excreted the pellets containing 83.1 grams of pure heroin with an estimated street-level value of A$92,200.

The court heard she had conducted an earlier ‘dummy run’ to Melbourne from Kuala Lumpur before she agreed to smuggle what she claimed was an unknown but illegal substance, in return for about A$2,380. – BERNAMA

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