A WOMAN who attempted to smuggle cannabis into jail by posting it to prisoners in laminated letters has been jailed for 21 months.

Police believe that Terriane Baker, of Dell Road, West Drayton, had supplied cannabis to prisoners throughout the UK on a "commercial scale" since 2009.

In August 2012, an investigation was launched by Islington CID when six letters with cannabis laminated into the pages were intercepted at Pentonville prison.

The letters were disguised as coming from solicitor's firms in west London.

Prison officers and detectives were able to identify a suspect through a combination of recorded prisoner’s telephone conversations, articles found in cells. and examination of post markings on the letters.

On September 14 2012, police searched Miss Baker’s home, and found evidence indicating that she had been sending drugs to prisons for the past three years.

The 45-year-old was not present during the raid, but she was later located at the UK Passport Office in Central London, and arrested.

Deetective identified more letters believed to be linked to Baker at the three other London prisons - Wandsworth, Belmarsh prisons, and Isis young offenders' institute in Thamesmead.

Her fingerprints were found on several of them.

She admitted to four charges of attempting to supply cannabis to 12 people incarcerated at the four jails, between April 10 to September 18 2012, and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday, February 3

Detective Constable Robert Gray said: "This investigation is a good example of the Metropolitan Police and HM Prison Services ongoing work in partnership, to tackle the problem of drugs in prisons and to bring to justice those who supply drugs to prisoners."