Police caught Nola Williams with the almost 1kg haul when she and her six-year-old daughter landed at Gatwick Airport.
Searched by officers from the National Crime Agency, the 47-year-old burst into tears, saying: "Why did I do it? I have ruined my life. I am so ashamed."
Now a court has heard that the troubled mum was used as a "mule" by accomplice Raymond Goodison, who was jailed in his absence for 13 years earlier this year.
And drug traffickers raped Williams in a bid to make her smuggle the 71 per cent purity drug on her BA flight from Kingston, Jamaica, Croydon Crown Court was told.
Louis French, prosecuting, described how the arrest unfolded.
He said: "What this case concerns is the importation of cocaine.
"The total value weight of the drugs was 973 grams at a purity of 71 per cent, with a street value was £184,221.
"It was brought into the country concealed in a bra worn by this defendant who travelled with her six-year-old daughter from Jamaica.
"She travelled into Gatwick on the 21 January of last year at 9.20am on a morning flight from Jamaica - her young daughter with her.
"Seemingly on her own she had to then get the transit shuttle from the north to south terminal, which happened to be quite a trek across the airport."
He went on: "Somebody from the National Crime Agency did notice something being said on the shuttle between Goodison and Williams, with Goodison resting his hand on her baggage trolley.
"Getting off the transit, Williams made her way to the railway station where they both joined the ticket queue separately.
"Goodison was in the lead and at some stage he was heard shouting, what can only have been to Williams, 'Gatwick Express to Victoria,' indicating where to buy the ticket from.
"As they got nearer the ticket barriers officers from the National Crime Agency intervened and arrested the pair."
The cocaine was then found in the the cups of Williams' 46D bra, the court was told.
"She told officers she had been away for two weeks to Jamaica visiting her father who had hurt his hand in an accident cutting a tree," Mr French continued.
"They asked her what was in the bra and she said she didn't know.
"She then went on to say: 'What will happen to my baby?' and made various comments like 'what have I done? I know drugs are illegal. Why did I do it? I have ruined my life. I am so ashamed.'"
An investigation found Goodison and Williams had been in contact a month before she left Jamaica, despite the former claiming they met on the flight.
"Using an old-fashioned term, Williams was the mule to Goodison, who was clearly seasoned at the importation of drugs," Mr French added.
Mr French also said the Home Office had rejected an application by Williams that claimed she had been "human trafficked" by Goodison.
Despite being on licence for a previous jail sentence for drugs, Goodison was bailed and has since fled the country, and is now believed to be in the US or Jamaica.
Shehida Begun, mitigating, said her client was a Jamaican mother-of-four who had lived in the UK for 12 years.
One of her sons was murdered in Jamaica, while the two that reside in the UK are six and 12, she said.
Jailing Williams, judge Benedict Kelleher, said: "You know, I am sure, and always have done, the damage cocaine causes to our society.
"Especially in terms of individuals and addicts, particularly when it is converted into crack cocaine, it can ruin their lives and those of their families.
"That is why courts in this country punish importers of drugs severely.
"You travelled to Jamaica where you have family and where you are originally from in January of last year and you returned with drugs concealed in your bra."
He went on: "The prosecution say, and I accept, that Raymond Goodison was clearly the prime mover: his role was to make sure you passed through customs and delivered the consignment safely to the people he was working for.
"It has been said you committed this crime because, effectively, you were forced to.
"You have mentioned a number of times that you were raped in Jamaica which is why you were forced to bring the drugs back to the country.
"I can't decide on the information I have to the truth or otherwise what happened to you in Jamaica.
"But I am prepared to accept you were used by others more capable and sophisticated than you and you were chosen because you were easily persuaded by the temptation of financial reward."
Goodison, of Russell Road, Northolt, Middlesex, has previous convictions for importing 637g of cocaine in 1991, when he was sentenced to 10 years, and possession with intent to supply heroin in 2009, when he was jailed for five years.
Williams of Rusper Court, Clapham Road, Stockwell, south London, pleaded guilty to one count of smuggling cocaine.
source daily star
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