ST JAMES, Jamaica — Despite his lawyer’s claim that his client suffers from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder which makes him gullible, British national Shay Daniel-Jabbi will spend the next 18 months in a Jamaican prison after failing in his attempt to smuggle cocaine and marijuana through Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport last month.

Daniel-Jabbi, a 33-year-old bartender of a London, England address, was sentenced in the St James Parish Court on Tuesday by presiding parish judge Sasha-Marie Smith-Ashley.

The defendant, who was represented by attorney-at-law Martyn Thomas, pleaded guilty to possession, dealing and attempting to export cocaine and possession of ganja. He pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to export cocaine and ganja.

In mitigation, Thomas stated that his client suffers from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, which makes him gullible, adding that people with this type of disorder don’t think things through well, and that that is why it was so easy for them to convince him to take back the drugs to the United Kingdom.

“He accepted that he suffers from this disorder, but at the same time he indicated that the amount of cocaine that he had was a lot,” Thomas said.

In her response to Thomas, Smith-Ashley stated that she took into account what he said, but noted that the accused man had a significant amount of cocaine.

“I understand that he has this disorder, but 20 pounds of cocaine is a lot of cocaine…I have to send a message to persons who were thinking of embarking on this type of venture,” the judge said.

In addition to the 18-month sentence, Daniel-Jabbi was ordered to pay a fine of $1 million or spend six months in prison for possession of cocaine, and $2 million or six months for attempting to export cocaine, with the sentences to run consecutively if the fines are not paid. He was admonished and discharged for dealing in cocaine, and no evidence was offered on the conspiracy charge.

On the possession of ganja charge, he was fined $1,000 or 30 days in jail, and no evidence was offered on the conspiracy to export ganja charge.

According to court documents, on May 10 about 1:20 pm, Daniel-Jabbi checked in at the Sangster International Airport to board a flight to Birmingham, England.

Officers on narcotics duty searched the defendant’s luggage while he was checking in and found eight rectangular-shaped parcels among his clothing. The parcels were checked and found to contain a white powdery substance resembling cocaine, weighing 20.5 pounds.

Further checks also revealed five ounces of loose vegetable matter resembling ganja, mixed in among the parcels of cocaine.

Daniel-Jabbi was subsequently taken into custody and charged with breaches of the Dangerous Drugs Act.