A drugs smuggler yesterday saw her sentence halved after a judge heard she had cooperated with authorities by giving evidence in the trial of her ex-boyfriend.

Teteeta Iereria — who imported heroin and cannabis worth more than $300,000 to Bermuda — saw her five-year sentence reduced to two and a half years by Appeals Court President Edward Zacca.

Her lawyer Elizabeth Christopher had told Mr. Justice Zacca that Iereria had suffered a great deal of embarrassment by giving evidence in the trial of cruise worker Andrew Laing last summer.

Single mother-of-two Iereria, of Kiribati in the South Pacific, had eight packages of drugs strapped to her body when she was searched by a Customs officer after leaving the Norwegian Spirit on October 6, 2006.

They contained just over 60 grams of heroin, with a street value of $232,220, and 1,577 grams of cannabis, worth $78,850. Iereria, a cleaner on the ship, was jailed for five years in November 2006 after admitting the offence.

Last summer, she gave evidence in the trial of Laing — whom she described as one of her many boyfriends on board the ship — helping ensure his conviction and 18-year jail sentence.

Jamaican national Laing assaulted a female Customs officer who tried to arrest him in Dockyard shortly after Iereria had been found with the drugs. He was eventually caught after a month-long manhunt and charged with four counts of conspiring to import heroin and one of assaulting the officer.

Laing had also been involved in two drugs drops before the one which led to his capture.

During Laing's trial, the jury was told he was the organiser and / or supervisor of the crime, getting in touch with the supplier in New York and the receiver of the drugs in Bermuda.

Iereria gave evidence explaining how she had tried to appear calm while walking off the ship with the drugs.

She added: "I'm hurt, I know he never loved me. I'm serving time so I want him to serve time. He exposed me to do this. I'm not jealous or in love with him anymore. I'm speaking the truth from the beginning until now."

Yesterday, Ms Christopher told the court: "She's the first one to admit she was doing the wrong thing. She basically just went forward and told what she knew."

When Mr. Justice Zacca revealed her sentence was cut to two years, Iereria put her head in her hands and later embraced Ms Christopher and prison staff. She must serve two thirds of the sentence, meaning the earliest she can be released is June 6.