SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A random search at the Yellowknife Airport resulted in $1,750 in fines for a 20-year-old woman after security officials found 100 grams of marijuana and 24 bottles of alcohol in her luggage as she tried to board a flight last September.

With respect to the marijuana, the woman, Tracy Eddibar, was originally charged with drug trafficking; however, she spared the court a trial by pleading guilty to the lesser charge of possession in territorial court on Feb. 21.

Security also found a coffee grinder and a smoking pipe.

Eddibar also pleaded guilty to an amended charge under the NWT Liquor Act of possessing 21 "mickeys," or 375-millilitre bottles of Smirnoff vodka and three 1.14-litre bottles of Red Tassel vodka.

Crown prosecutor Roger Shepard said on Sept. 15, 2010, airport security randomly searched the woman's red suitcase as she was boarding a plane headed for her home community of Colville Lake. Eddibar admitted to the Yellowknife RCMP she planned to sell the alcohol to residents in the community at an elevated price of $50 for a 375-millilitre bottle and $250 for a 1.14-litre bottle.

The total street value of the alcohol in her luggage was $1,800.

Shepard requested a $1,000 fine for the marijuana possession and a $2,000 fine for the "bootlegging" charge. He also asked the court to sentence the offender, who had no prior convictions, to probation and 80 to 100 hours of community service.

Shepard said a message needed to be sent given the frequency of problems with drugs and alcohol, and the contribution these substances have on crime in the North.

Defence lawyer Nikolaus Homberg said his client has a four-year-old child and is back in school trying to complete Grade 11.

Homberg submitted letters of support on her behalf, adding that Eddibar is embarrassed about this incident and is a "good kid" that is trying to make "positive contributions to her community" in other ways. He suggested a lesser fine of $750 for the marijuana possession and a fine in the range of $750 to $1,000 for keeping alcohol for sale.

In addition to the $1,750 fine, Judge Garth Malakoe issued a one-year probation order in which Eddibar is prohibited from consuming or possessing alcohol or any other intoxicating substance for the first four months.

For the remaining eight months, she is not allowed to bring alcohol into any community in the North. She was also ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.

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