A criminal court in Egypt's Red Sea governorate sentenced on Tuesday a British woman to three years in prison for smuggling prescription painkillers into the country. Laura Plummer was arrested in October upon arrival at Hurghada airport after 400 tablets of the opiate painkiller Tramadol were found in her possession. Possessing Tramadol without a prescription is a felony in Egypt. The 33-year-old woman from Hull has maintained her innocence since her arrest, insisting that the Tramadol tablets were for her Egyptian partner who suffers from chronic back pain. The black market for Tramadol has grown in Egypt over the past decade, with many using the drug recreationally as a heroin substitute.
