A drug mule caught trying to smuggle ingested pellets of cocaine and cannabis through the airport has been jailed for 27 months.

“You took a gamble — and you lost,” magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo told Marketa Raynor, 31, before passing sentence.

An emotional Raynor, said to be a mother of two at her earlier court appearance, apologised to the court, telling Mr Tokunbo: “At the time, it was only a means to an end.”

However, the quantity and type of drugs represented “a serious offence”, Crown counsel Takiyah Burgess said.

Raynor, of Underhill Road, Pembroke, was caught on December 17, 2013, when a sniffer dog in LF Wade International Airport singled out her baggage.

A swab detected traces of cocaine, and a search uncovered a cylindrical package hidden on her person.

Later, at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, she admitted to authorities that she’d swallowed drug pellets.

The package held 91.6g of cocaine freebase that could have fetched $28,650 on the streets.

The pellets that were passed from her system contained 98.4g of cannabis, potentially worth $4,925, plus 10.6g of cocaine hydrochloride that could have yielded a further $2,500.

“This is a rather sad case,” Mr Tokunbo said.

“You’re an intelligent lady. You’ve been around the world; you’ve done a whole lot.

“You knew what you were doing.”

The magistrate credited her for admitting guilt, but noted that she’d put her life at risk by swallowing drugs.

“Instead of that, you’ve lost your liberty.

“That’s inevitable, in order to deter you and others from doing these types of things.”

Raynor was jailed 12 months for importing and possessing cannabis, 18 months for the cocaine and 27 months for importing and possessing cocaine freebase, or crack.

The sentences are to run concurrently, with 12 months’ probation to follow.