A mother of six has been arrested at her Dublin home on suspicion of being a fugitive drug importer in Italy, where she is wanted to serve a 20-year sentence imposed in her absence.

Aisha Ahmed (49) was brought before the High Court on foot of a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian authorities, who have been looking for the Nigerian native for several years.

It comes just two days after her husband, Yemi Moshood Olatunde, was arrested and brought before the court in similar circumstances.

Both husband and wife claim to have been arrested in cases of mistaken identity. A number of her children were in court to support their mother.

Detective Sergeant Jim Kirwan of the Garda Extradition Unit told the court that he arrested Ms Ahmed yesterday morning at her home at Sundale Parade, Tallaght.

He said that she had given her name as Gloria Aro and her date of birth as being in December 1967. She supplied an Irish passport to that effect.

She denied being known as Aisha Ahmed or by the alias, Linda, and denied using a date of birth in 1965. She also said she had never been to Italy.

However, D Sgt Kirwan had received a photograph of Ms Ahmed from Interpol in Rome and was satisfied he had the right person. He said that she looked at the photo but said that it wasn’t her.

The detective said he gave her a copy of the European Arrest Warrant, which said that she had the role of ‘promoter, leader and organiser’ in an association that imported, sold, distributed and traded ‘remarkable quantities’ of cocaine in Italy between September 1999 and June 2000.

She was convicted in her absence in 2005 and the Court of Naples later sentenced her to 20 years in prison.

The detective said he took her to Tallaght Garda Station, where she was fingerprinted and that he had confirmed by lunchtime that her prints matched those sent by Interpol in Rome.

The Interpol photograph was handed into the court and Mr John Edwards asked Ms Aisha to remove her hat so he could ‘make judgement’.

Detective Garda Frank Doyle of the Garda Fingerprint Bureau testified that he compared the fingerprints sent by Interpol in the name of Aisha Ahmed with the fingerprints taken from the woman now in court.

“Those fingerprints are from the same person,” he said.

Ann Marie Lawlor BL, for the State, asked the court to be satisfied that the person named in the warrant was the person in court and asked for a notional hearing date.

Kieran Kelly BL, representing Ms Ahmed, said that the fingerprints had come from Italy and that his client said she had never been to Italy. He noted that there was an Irish passport in the name she said was hers.

Mr Justice Edwards said that he was satisfied that Mr Kelly’s client was the person named in the European Arrest Warrant. He said there were conceivable reasons why she might have an Irish passport in another name, including that the document could be in her married name.

“I don’t need to know,” he said. “I have fingerprint evidence, one of the most reliable forms of identification.��

He remanded her in custody to The Dochas Centre until Tuesday November 4th.

Addressing her as Ms Ahmed, he told her that she could voluntarily surrender to the Italian State at any time.

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