Two young Brits have been jailed for six years after being caught trying to smuggle nearly 150lbs of cannabis in their luggage from Thailand to Zimbabwe.
Tihaise Darlin Elisha, 19, and Taylor Tamara Simone, 21, were arrested at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare, Zimbabwe, on May 1, after the pair arrived on a flight from Thailand.
Airport staff found their behaviour suspicious and carried out a search where they stumbled across the hidden stash of drugs.
Police discovered 53 packets containing a total of 146lbs of ‘loose skunky’ cannabis, also known locally as dagga, tucked away inside four monarch suitcases.
The drugs were concealed inside the cases which had been tagged with the offenders’ names.
The pair were seen in photographs standing and crouching sheepishly next to the cannabis-filled bags.
Elisha and Simone have since been found guilty of drug trafficking by the Harare Magistrates’ Court, according to an August 4 statement by Zimbabwe’s National Prosecuting Authority.
Each were sentenced to nine years in prison, with three years suspended on condition of good behaviour.
Taylor Tamara Simone, 21, (pictured), was arrested at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare, Zimbabwe, on May 1, after arriving on a flight from Thailand
Tihaise Darlin Elisha, 19,was also arrested after police discovered 53 packets containing a total of 146lbs of loose skunky cannabis, also known locally as dagga, tucked away inside four monarch suitcases
The National Prosecuting Authority warned that the country maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward transnational drug trafficking, saying: ‘The law will catch up with offenders, no matter their nationality.
It comes after three British women were detained in Mauritius after a group of nine passengers were found with over £4million worth of cannabis in their suitcases.
Shania Mabel Rosalind Wood, Alethea Jade Demitre and Chloe Nancy Parker were arrested in what has been described as ‘one of the largest’ drug seizures at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (SSR) on May 29.
Between eight suitcases 212kg of cannabis, worth an estimated street value of 254.5 million Mauritian rupees (£4,104,353.22), was seized upon their arrival EK703 from Dubai, at around 4.40pm local time.
Wood, 25, was found with 30 packages of the class B drug weighing 31.10kg, while fellow Brit Demitre, 33, was discovered with 31.11kg of cannabis across 46 packages. Eighteen-year-old Parker was also found with 46 packages of the drug weighing at 44.95kg.
The five arrested – which includes both Dominican and Portuguese nationals – are Hansel Gomez, Esequiel Perez, Ildo Valera De Brito, Luis Manuel Herrera Martinez and Soraia Cristina Da Silva Cruz.
Another Brit, Daniel Jonathan Pearson, was also taken into custody despite having no drugs in his possession. He is believed to have been the ringleader supervising the eight drug mules.
It is suggested Pearson was going to create a diversion at the checkpoint to allow the drug smugglers to pass through unchecked.
The drugs were concealed inside the cases which had been tagged with the offenders’ names
Elisha and Simone have since been found guilty of drug trafficking by the Harare Magistrates’ Court, according to an August 4 statement by Zimbabwe’s National Prosecuting Authority
However the airport’s Anti-Drug & Smuggling Unit (ADSU), officers from the Customs Anti-Narcotics Section (CANS) of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) foiled their operation.
Wood, Demitre and Parker face provisional charges of the importation of cannabis, while Pearson faces charged of drug dealing with aggravating circumstances and managing the importation of cannabis with an averment of trafficking.
All nine people involved have been remanded in jail as they await a trial before the Mauritian Supreme Court. If found guilty, the Brits could spend between 25 to 60 years locked up abroad.
A British mother was also charged with trafficking drugs into Germany after being caught allegedly smuggling cannabis from Thailand.
Cameron Bradford, 21, from Knebworth in Hertfordshire, was arrested at Munich Airport on April 22 when she attempted to collect her luggage.
Authorities had become suspicious after she allegedly changed her flight at the last minute, having originally been due to fly to London Heathrow via Singapore.
Her family had filed a missing person report after raising concerns when she did not return home as expected, but then learned the next day she was in Germany.
Bradford was arrested and held in custody – and has now been charged with attempted transit of cannabis and abetting the international trafficking of cannabis.
The mother, who has a young son, is set to make an appearance at a hearing in Munich District Court on August 6 as authorities continue to investigate.
And three Brits who had been warned they faced the death penalty for smuggling drugs into Bali hidden in Angel Delight packets were last month let off with just a one-year prison sentence.
Airport staff found their behaviour suspicious and carried out a search where they stumbled across the hidden stash of drugs
The Indonesian court instead gave 12-month prison terms to the three British nationals, all from Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, who had been accused of drug running on the resort island.
Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 38, and Lisa Ellen Stocker, 39, were arrested on February 1 after being stopped at Bali’s international airport with 17 packages of cocaine that weighed nearly a kilogram, according to public court records.
They appeared in court alongside Phineas Ambrose Float, 31, who was allegedly due to receive the packages from them and was arrested a few days later in February.
Presiding judge Heriyanti declared that all three suspects had violated article 131 of Indonesian Narcotic law – but said he was reducing the sentence because they had admitted their offences and had behaved ‘politely’.
All three defendants stated that they accepted the verdict and would not file an appeal. The time served since their arrest in February will count towards their sentence, meaning they should be released early next year.
