A YOUNG Newport woman was jailed for eight years after being caught with 1kg of cocaine at a South American airport.

Anti-drug officers from the Venezuelan National Guard arrested student Leah Pugsley, then 19, at Maiquetia international airport near Caracas in December 2004 as she tried to leave the country with the drugs in her suitcase, a court in Vargas province heard.

The former Hartridge Comprehensive School pupil, now 21, admitted the facts the prosecution presented when she appeared before the Court Fourth of First Instance in Vargas, Venezuela, on a charge of transporting an illicit substance or narcotic, it emerged last night.

Pugsley, who had an Essex address at the time of her arrest but whose family live in Anson Green, Newport, will not be eligible for release from prison until December 3, 2012.

The official adjudication of the court says her admission of the facts presented by prosecutor Julio Bonnet meant a year was knocked off the average nine-year sentence for the offence by judge Yarleny Martin.

The judge also ordered the destruction of the seized drug.

The adjudication described how her black suitcase was searched before she boarded an Air France plane from Caracas to Paris.

Wrappings containing the cocaine, which was 56 per cent pure, were found among clothes, the adjudication document says.

The Argus exclusively revealed last year that Pugsley was being detained in the South American country.

After her arrest the student was sent to Inos prison in Los Teques where she awaited trial. It is not known which prison she will be serving her sentence in.

She will be deported when she has completed her sentence.

Pugsley, whose parents are called Deborah and Carl, has an older sister and a younger brother and sister. Her family refused to comment yesterday.

The judge also ordered the destruction of the seized drug.

The adjudication described how her black suitcase was searched before she boarded an Air France plane from Caracas to Paris.

Wrappings containing the cocaine, which was 56 per cent pure, were found among clothes, the adjudication document says.

The Argus exclusively revealed last year that Pugsley was being detained in the South American country.

After her arrest the student was sent to Inos prison in Los Teques where she awaited trial. It is not known which prison she will be serving her sentence in. She will be deported when she has completed her sentence.

Pugsley, whose parents are called Deborah and Carl, has an older sister and a younger brother and sister. Her family refused to comment yesterday.