Two Canadian residents, who tried to smuggle $831,875 of cocaine into Bermuda, have been jailed for a total of 22 years.

Donnette Reid and Toni Downing had admitted bringing in more than two kilos of the drug in liquid form, hidden in Jamaican rum bottles, on a flight from New York.

Both have young children and US-born Downing made an emotional appeal for all or part of her sentence to be served in Canada, so she could be near her nine-year-old boy.

Defence lawyer Mark Pettingill, who represented both women, said her case was one of the saddest he had ever come across, as she had recently won a lengthy custody battle to keep her son.

But Chief Justice Austin Ward said his sentencing powers were not affected by the personal circumstances of defendants. He said: "This is another case of young women allowing themselves to be duped into importing a large quantity of cocaine to Bermuda for a free trip and a small sum of money.'' Senior Crown counsel Peter Eccles said the pair arrived on a flight from New York on April 23, after taking a bus to the city from Toronto.

Each presented three bottles of rum to Customs Officers, who became suspicious and conducted a test, which revealed the presence of cocaine.

Further analysis showed there was 2.13 kg of cocaine -- which can easily be converted in to crack cocaine -- suspended in six litres of rum.

the UK with a three-year-old daughter, knew there was contraband in the bottles, but 33-year-old Downing had no specific knowledge and had gone along for a free trip.

The pair, who live in Scarborough, Toronto, pleaded guilty to importing cocaine at a previous hearing. Downing received a ten-year term and Reid 12 years.

Mr. Pettingill said Reid had admitted her part in the crime and had tried to do what she could to help her friend, who he said had "been so duped it was pathetic''.

He said the pair may have not been aware of how severely Bermuda dealt with drug traffickers, and may have simply been told that if they were caught, the Bermuda authorities would send them home.

"If you do come here with drugs, then you are facing a long period of incarceration,'' Mr. Pettingill noted. "That message isn't out there. They wouldn't have done this if they knew what would happen.'' Reid, a hairdresser, said she realised the mistake she had made and the potential harm she could have brought to Bermuda, adding that she acknowledged the hurt that she had also done to herself.

A tearful Downing, who worked at the Royal Bank of Canada, apologised for her actions.

She asked if the courts would consider allowing her to complete all or part of her sentence at a prison closer to her young son.

"As I must be incarcerated I need to maintain the bond with my child which has already deteriorated because of the distance between us,'' she said.

DRUGS DGS