Three British women have been 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, Defi media reported.
It is suggested Pearson was going to create a diversion at the checkpoint to allow the drug smugglers to pass through unchecked.
Shania Wood, 25, of Luton was arrested along with seven others after being found with £4million worth of cannabis in their suitcases
Fellow Brit, Alethea Jade Demitre, was also detained in what has been described as ‘one of the largest’ drug seizures at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (SSR) on May 29
Daniel Jonathan Pearson (pictured) was also taken into custody despite having no drugs in his possession as he is believed to have been the ringleader behind the operation
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
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 Foreign Office spokesperson said: ‘We are supporting a number of British nationals who have been detained in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities.’
It follows the arrest of seven other British citizens at the same airport, including a six-year-old boy, who were found to have £1.6million worth of cannabis concealed in their suitcases.
Customs officials at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport discovered 14 kilos of cannabis concealed in the young boy’s bag and 17 kilos in luggage belonging to another individual on June 22.
Altogether some 161 kilos of the drug were found hidden throughout several other suitcases.
Eleven numbered Apple AirTags were discovered, suggesting the operation may have been linked to an organised crime gang responsible for smuggling drugs from Europe to Mauritius.
Wood was found with 30 packages of the class B drug, weighing at 31.93kg
Demitre, was discovered with 31.11kg of cannabis across 46 packages. Parker was also found 46 packages, weighing at around 45kg
Authorities say had the drugs reached the local market, it could have flooded the island and caused havoc on several levels (stock image)
The six arrested British adults – all from Cambridgeshire – included Laura Kappen, 28, a bar worker from Orton Goldhay, Shannon Holness, 29, a caterer, from Bretton, Shona Campbell, 33, a cleaner from Standground, Lily Watson, a caterer from Peterborough and window fitter Patrick Wilsdon, 21, also from Peterborough.
Romanian national, Florian Lisman, 38, a machine operator living in Huntingdon, was additionally arrested.
Daily Mail recently revealed how a British man was arrested in Cambodia after allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly 20kg of marijuana into the UK – just hours after he was reported missing by his girlfriend.
Robert Brown, 41, from Newcastle, had been the subject of an urgent missing persons post on social media before he was arrested at Phnom Penh International Airport on June 17.
Police found 22 packages of cannabis weighing nearly 20kg hidden inside his luggage.
The drugs, which police believe originated from Thailand, are thought to have a street value of around £200,000.
Brown has been charged with the use, possession, trafficking, and transport of drugs under Cambodian law and has been referred to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for legal proceedings.
Shannon Holness, 29, a caterer, from Bretton, Cambridgeshire, is among the British nationals arrested in Mauritius for allegedly smuggling 161kg of cocaine into the country
Bella Culley (pictured) is languishing in notorious Women’s Penitentiary Number Five in Georgia after allegedly carrying 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish into the ex-Soviet nation
Charlotte Lee May, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, has been locked up in a Sri Lankan prison after police discovered 46kg of ‘Kush’ – a synthetic strain of cannabis – in her suitcase when she arrived on a flight from Thailand
If convicted, he could face a hefty prison sentence of between 20 to 30 years, Khmer Times reported.
It comes amid a spate of drug smuggling offences by Brits, with Bella Culley, 18 from Billingham, County Durham, was arrested in Georgia last May.
She was accused of carrying 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish into the ex-Soviet nation from Thailand, where she had been holidaying.
She claimed in court that she is pregnant and has confided in legal sources that she was in love with a mystery man who now forms a central part of the investigation.
In a similar case, 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May, from Coulsdon, south London, has been locked up in a Sri Lankan prison.
She was detained after police discovered 46kg of ‘Kush’ – a synthetic strain of cannabis – in her suitcase when she arrived on a flight from Thailand.
The former cabin crew member for Tui was placed in handcuff after £1.15million worth of cannabis was allegedly found in her luggage last month.
Kimberly Hall is said to have tried to get Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport her to her native Britain after she was allegedly busted with $6.5 million of cocaine at Chicago O’Hare Airport
Hall, pictured shortly after her August 2024 arrest, was on the verge of boarding a flight home to the UK to evade justice, prosecutors allege. She had been released from jail on an ankle tag just before the alleged escape attempt
Hall, pictured in a newer mugshot, says she had been asking about how to get a job when she was taken into ICE custody
She is being detained in a prison north of Colombo and could face up to 25 years in prison if found guilty.
A flurry of cases have since followed including OnlyFans model Clara Wilson, 36, from Nottinghamshire, who allegedly tried to smuggle around £200,000 of Thai cannabis into Spain.
Meanwhile, British beautician Kimberly Hall, 29, from Middlesbrough, was accused of attempting to smuggle $6.2m of cocaine from Chicago O’ Hare Airport to the UK, after travelling from Cancun, Mexico.
Many of the alleged British smugglers face decades in prison if convicted.
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