Denise Marie Woodrum is a sister at an order based in Saint Louis, Missouri

Smuggling is a profession engaged in by people from all walks of life. Smugglers can also be found in all areas of human endeavour. Denise Marie Woodrum is a classic example. The 51-year-old is a Catholic nun.

Last August, Woodrum was seized at Sydney airport when customs officers found nearly a kilogram of cocaine hidden in high-heeled shoes she was carrying.




The nun admitted importing the drug in January. However, during a Sydney district court hearing this month, Rebecca Neil, Woodrum’s lawyer, apparently having worked on the case, said that her client was tricked into smuggling the drugs, thinking the shoes were gifts, by a man she met online called Hendrik Cornelius, whose real identity is unknown. Ms Neil added that Woodrum was a vulnerable woman who had been “groomed”.

It was hardly surprising that during the hearing the judge rejected Woodrum’s defence as “inconsistent and unbelievable”.




The incarcerated nun-smuggler will be sentenced in September.