Delcy Daymar Rodriguez Guererro is a lucky woman.

In February last year, she was slapped with a wholly suspended sentence or a $700 fine in a case that ordinarily attracts over 10 years’ imprisonment.

Aggrieved by the trial court’s leniency, the Prosecutor-General’s Office appealed to the High Court against conviction and sentence, saying it was too lenient.

Guerrro, a native of Venezuela, who was deported to her home country, should have served five years in prison for possession of cocaine valued at $469 000 after the High Court quashed a lower court’s sentence in a judgment delivered recently.

During the appeal hearing, prosecutor Mr Edmore Makoto sought the imposition of 15 years or five years in jail, with one year suspended on condition of good behaviour.

But Justice Joseph Musakwa observed that the trial court was too lenient with Guererro and ruled that a declarator on the appropriate sentence was called for.

“In that respect, a sentence of five years’ imprisonment should have been imposed,” said Justice Musakwa.

“The verdict of the lower court is set aside and substituted with . . . (1) guilty of the main charge and not guilty of the alternative charge; (2) the sentence is set aside and substituted with the following . . . five years’ imprisonment.”

Justice Musakwa bemoaned a dearth of comparative authorities on cocaine-related matters from the country’s jurisdiction.

He said the few cases available pale into insignificance when compared with the present matter.

Usually, people found in possession of small quantities of cocaine ranging from 1,7 grammes to 10 grammes are sent to jail without the option of a fine.

The trial court was lenient with Guererro on the grounds that it was expensive to keep foreigners in local prisons, adding that the convict had complained of ill-health.

This was despite the fact that the prosecution in the trial court had submitted that a fine would trivialise the gravity of the offence and would be a mockery to the justice delivery system.

The trial court heard that on October 18, 2018, police on duty at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport received a tip-off that Guererro was travelling to Harare from Brazil and was suspected to be carrying dangerous drugs.

When Guererro disembarked from her flight, she proceeded to the clearance counter in the arrivals hall to clear her passport.

She was arrested as she was getting her passport stamped.