UN worker fined for drug offence

A UNICEF consultant Ms Lisa Woods was fined Rs. 8000 by a Colombo Court for being in possession of 80mg of heroin.
A senior government official last night said the Ms Lisa Woods, a US passport holder, had arrived in Colombo on March 5.
Police said they responded to an emergency call after the UNICEF Office in Colombo had contacted the Renuka Hotel, where she was lodging, when Ms Woods failed to report to work on March 12. On the request of the UNICEF, the hotel management had opened Ms Woods’ room which had a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door, he said.
They had found her unconscious. The door had been opened in the presence of a foreign colleague of Ms Woods, he said. She had been admitted to the intensive care unit where a routine check of her clothes by the hospital staff had resulted in the recovery of 80 mg of heroin. It had been in one of the pockets of her denims, police said. Police arrested her on March 17 and produced her before a Magistrate who ordered her remanded till March 25. When she was produced before the Magistrate on March 25, a fine of Rs 8,000 was imposed on her on the charge of being in possession 80 mg of heroin.