The Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a woman caught bringing acetyl fentanyl — a dangerous “analogue” of fentanyl — into Bermuda.

Mandaya Thomas, 28, was convicted of the importation of 92 grams of the drug by magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo last March.

But Thomas, from Pembroke, appealed on the grounds that acetyl fentanyl was not listed as a controlled drug before she was sentenced.

Acetyl fentanyl is an opioid similar to fentanyl, which is 15 times more powerful than morphine.

It has never been licensed for medical use in any country, but it has been sold illegally as a heroin substitute and has been linked to hundreds of deaths in Europe and the United States.

Prosecutors argued that the chemical was a derivative of fentanyl, a controlled drug, which makes it illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1972.

But Marc Daniels, for Thomas, argued that there was insufficient evidence to prove the seized drugs were derived from fentanyl in a chemical sense.

Puisne Judge Shade Subair Williams found the chemical was what mattered, rather than the process used to make it.

She wrote in a February 19 ruling: “In my judgment, this court need not, and ought not to be misled into a scientific analysis of how a substance was chemically manufactured.

“The purpose of the 1972 Act is to outlaw substances and products by reference to its final structure and not its ingredients.

“This approach might also be illustrated by the long history of this court’s acceptance of evidence identifying other controlled substances by reference to its final composition as opposed to its creation.”

Mrs Justice Subair Williams dismissed the appeal and sent Thomas back to Magistrates’ Court for sentencing.

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