A Whyteleafe woman who brought £34,000 of cannabis was caught by customs officials trying to swap suitcases at Gatwick airport.

Nazimoon Pereira, of Littlegrange, Portly Wood Road, Whyteleafe, was jailed for two years at Croydon Crown Court heard on Thursday.

She had denied a charge of unlawful importation but was convicted.

Airport customs worker Andrew Young said the 52-year-old mum-of-two landed at the airport on a Britannia flight from Jamaica on November 9 last year.

At a baggage reclaim belt he saw a black bag with no labels on it. Mr Young told the court: "A woman approached it and I asked her if it was her bag and she said it was.

"She walked towards customs control when half-way she stopped, examined the bag and returned it to the carousel."

Mr Young said she took another bag so he asked to see her passport. Pereira told him she had picked up the wrong bag and that the first one had nothing to do with her.

But when the first bag was searched four blocks of cannabis weighing more than 13 kilos and with a value of £34,000 was found.

In her hand luggage were two keys which fitted both cases.

In evidence, Pereira said she had been visiting a friend's mother in Jamaica and she came back with one case.

She had had no knowledge of the drugs, she claimed, and had not been trying to fool Customs.

After the guilty verdict, defence counsel Charles John-Jules said: "She has been taking anti-depressants because of the situation she is in. It has been very difficult for her to plan her life because of these proceedings."

Judge Simon Pratt told Pereira: "You allowed yourself to become involved in what was clearly a significant and commercial importation of drugs. You have no plea of guilty by way of mitigation."