WESTERN BUREAU:

A woman who tried to smuggle a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cocaine in the covers of textbooks was remanded after her bail application was rejected in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court.

Debbie Bennett, of Fort Lauderdale, United States, and Kingston addresses, appeared before the court on Tuesday to answer charges of possession, dealing and attempting to export cocaine. She insists that she had no knowledge of the contraband.

Bennett, 28, a sales representative, could be seen holding her chest and breathing heavily as the Resident Magistrate denied her bail on the grounds that the allegations were serious and that, in light of the fact that she was a frequent flyer, she was considered a flight risk.

two-year-old daughter

She was born in Jamaica and is the mother of a two-year-old daughter who is frequently in Jamaica to visit her father. These points, along with the fact that she had also worked for short periods in Jamaica, were reasons submitted by attorney-at-law, Jacqueline Minto, for Bennett to be considered for bail. Minto was holding for Bennett's attorney, George Thomas.

Bennett is to return to court on November 4.

Allegations are that on October 5, she checked in at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay to board an Air Jamaica flight to Ontario, Canada. Her suitcase was searched and powdery substance resembling cocaine was found in a secret compartment in the cover of two textbooks she had. Bennett allegedly said that she did not know there was cocaine in the books.