A SAN Juan woman who pleaded guilty of importing a cache of firearms and firearm components that were found in shipping barrels at a Piarco Bond shop in 2017 was on Tuesday fined $40,000 by a Port of Spain magistrate.

Hafiesha Dillon appeared virtually before Magistrate Brian Debideen. She was represented by attorneys Kelston Pope And Devvon Williams while Shirley Sheppard appeared for the Customs and Excise Division.

Dillon was charged with the importation of prohibited items contrary to the Customs Act.

The items were broken down into parts, carefully wrapped in plastic, and secured in barrels that contained household items including dog cow and flour.

In her defence, she claimed not to have known what was in the barrels when she went to collect, and according to the evidence of phone texts, she told someone, "That is what allyuh do me?"

In sentencing Dillon, the magistrate said she was lucky she was getting a non-custodial sentence as he lamented the proliferation of illegal firearms in the country.

It was the evidence of the Customs division that on May 31, 2017, Dillon was arrested at Piarco Air Services warehouse after a search of the barrels were conducted by custom officers. The barrels carried her name and address and the weapons were found in bags of dog chow and flour. When questioned, she said she did not have a firearm’s users licence. In all, 19 packages were retrieved from the bags of dog chow and flour.

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