Perth grandmother accused of smuggling drugs into Japan has learned her fate in a Japanese court

A Japanese court has found Perth grandmother Donna Nelson guilty of trying to import two kilograms of methamphetamine into the country. Nelson, 58, was arrested at Narita Airport in Tokyo in January 2023 after arriving on a flight from Laos, with the methamphetamine concealed in her suitcase. She has always maintained her innocence and that she was the victim of a romance scam hatched by a global crime syndicate. But three professional judges and six civilians said Nelson missed red flags about a man she met online and she had agreed to his request to bring a suitcase from Laos to Japan unresolved. Nelson has been in jail since her arrest with her family seeing her for the first time when she appeared in court in the eastern city of Chiba. “Mum is the victim of a romance scam – she is the victim of crime, not a criminal,” her five daughters said in a statement. Nelson had met a man online known as Kelly and the pair began a romance communicating over a two-year period. Kelly arranged for Nelson to travel to Japan, where he claimed to live and work in the fashion industry, and controlled the chosen itinerary she would take. He told her she would have to fly to Laos for a three-day stopover because of the busy period between Christmas and New Year. As she left a hotel in Vientiane, on her way to the airport to fly to Japan, one of Kelly’s “business associates” met her and asked her to take a suitcase. Seemingly suspicious, she carefully examined its contents, which comprised of clothing samples and not much else. “We believe mum went thoroughly through the suitcase … she didn’t see what was built into the suitcase,” her daughter told Channel 10. The drugs had been concealed beneath the lining of the bag, it’s believed. Nelson’s children couldn’t reach her after she was due to have landed and days later heard she had been arrested. The Japanese court ruled Nelson missed red flags, which led her to carry the bag to Japan despite raising concerns about collecting a bag before her trip. Judge Masakazu Kamakura said the strangeness of the request was not resolved and the doubt something illegal could be inside the suitcase was not resolved. Nelson’s lawyer Nishida Rie told reporters outside court she would appeal the decision and vowed to fight for her client until she was free. “I believe this was a very unreasonable decision,” she said. “We definitely need to talk with Donna but we will fight until the end, until she gets freedom. ‘We strongly believe her innocence.” Ms Nelson’s family said in a statement they were disappointed and devastated by the court’s verdict and would keep fighting until they could bring her home. “She is the victim of a crime and not a criminal. She has always been against drugs,” she said. “As she said in her trial, she was duped – and did not know there were drugs in the bag her partner asked her to take into Japan. “We cannot say any more about the case at this time as we consider preparing for an appeal. “But we want to make clear now, we will never stop fighting for our mum.”