A Chinese woman, who was presented with a book of evidence at Ballina District Court on Tuesday, has been sent forward for trial to Castlebar Circuit Court in April on four counts for possession and the unlawful sale or supply of €150,000 worth of drugs, which were detected in the Crossmolina area in November 2008.
The court heard how Xiao Lan Wang (45 ), of no fixed abode, responded to the new charges: “I’m innocent,” “I was being threatened,” “I did not know,” and “I was drugged”.
The woman was initially arrested on November 29 last year on foot of immigration charges and Inspector Martin Byrne told Judge Patrick Clyne that he was still not satisfied with the woman’s ID, a Chinese ID card, and that she had refused “point blank” to give fingerprints.
The judge said that the court had indulged her in the production of ID but this was not satisfactory and sentenced Lan Wang to three months in prison, with the commencement of the sentence backdated to November 29.
Solicitor Peter Loftus said that the woman had been brought into the country and held to carry out work in relation to the new charges before her.
Insp Byrne objected to bail as she could abscond. Lan Wang will appear at Castlebar Circuit Court sitting on April 21.
