Briton who ‘smuggled’ painkillers to Egypt for lover faces years in jail
A BrITISH woman could face 25 years in jail or even the death penalty for taking prescription painkillers into Egypt.
Laura Plummer, 33, was detained for bringing 290 tramadol tablets with her when visiting partner Omar Caboo, also 33, on holiday.
Mr Caboo suffers with severe back pain, which is why Miss Plummer is believed to have brought the tablets. But tramadol is banned in Egypt to stop addicts using the drug as a heroin substitute.
She is currently in jail facing drug trafficking charges and has been told she may face 25 years in prison or even the death penalty if convicted.
Miss Plummer first met Mr Caboo – who already has a Muslim wife and two children – while on holiday four years ago. He works at a hotel and she visits him about three times a year.
The shop assistant has signed ‘documents’ allowing her to live as his wife in the country – polygamy is legal for men in Egypt. However, they are not recognised as being married under UK laws.
Miss Plummer has spent almost a month behind bars after being arrested at the airport in the red Sea resort of Hurghada on October 9.
Her family have revealed she has become suicidal from her prison ordeal, sharing a 15ft square cell with 25 other women.
And the family claim they have already lost £10,000 to ‘lawyers’ who then dropped her case.
Miss Plummer’s mother roberta Synclair is flying back to Egypt for a further court hearing this week, but even after securing the services of a new lawyer they are not hopeful of winning her release. Speaking from the family home in Hull, Mrs Synclair, 63, who has six children, said: ‘Laura has gone through the worst pain imaginable – she’s going through hell. I’ve been out twice to see her and [am] going out again so I can see her on Thursday.’
Sister rachel Plummer, 31, said: ‘Tramadol to Laura is just a painkiller – nothing more. She’s not the type of girl to commit a crime like this and everyone who knows her can’t believe it. She’s now living in a hell hole for a few packs of painkillers. When we last saw her in court Laura was unrecognisable – her hair had fallen out with stress and she was blank behind the eyes.’ rachel said her sister ‘knows about his [other] marriage’.
rachel denied Mr Caboo, who has suffered from severe back and arm pain since being involved in a car crash several years ago, was taking advantage of her and said he was trying to help.
‘He didn’t specifically ask for tramadol to be brought over, just painkillers in general,’ she said.
Miss Plummer is believed to have obtained the drugs from a colleague.
Commenting on the case, a Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘ We are supporting a British woman and her family following her detention in Egypt.’