A WOMAN from Darwen has been arrested in Jamaica on suspicion of trying to smuggle £200,000 worth of cannabis out of the country.

Debbie Kehoe, 45, is set to appear in court this week in the Caribbean country after she was arrested at the island’s main airport in Montego Bay.

Local police said that Kehoe, who is from the Sudell Road area of Darwen, was trying to check two holdalls in for a flight back to the UK when they she was stopped.

Officers said they found 30 kilogrammes (five stones and six pounds) in the bags.

The Foreign Office said that Kehoe, who was recently working behind the bar at the New Inn in Market Street, was with her partner, whose details have not been released, at the time.

Both have been arrested and charged and face years behind bars if convicted.

Penalties for drug trafficking are severe in Jamaica, and those convicted can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines.

Friends in the New Inn and Franky’s Bar in Darwen yesterday said the arrest had left them shocked.

One said: “We all knew she was going off on holiday with her new man but no-one really knows what has happened.”

Another added: “We are all worried. At the moment we just want to know what is going on.”

Kehoe was arrested at Sangster International Airport, in the north west of Jamaica, on Thursday at 3pm local time.

Police said drugs were found in two bags.

She was charged over the weekend and is now expected to make an initial appearance in court at some point this week.

The man has also been charged.

In a brief statement Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials said: “We can confirm the arrest of a British national, Deborah Kehoe, in Jamaica.

“We are providing her and her family with consular assistance.”

A spokesman for Montego Bay police station said: “Two check-in bags which contained cannabis were intercepted and a couple were arrested.

“They will be in court later this week and more details will be released at that stage.”