Four Brits are among nine people reportedly arrested at Mauritius’ main airport on suspicion of attempting to smuggle a huge haul of cannabis onto the island.
Eight of the group were found with a total of 212kg (averaging nearly 27kg per person) of the drug at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (SSR) on May 29, authorities told local media.
They include 18-year-old Chloe Nancy Parker, whose luggage allegedly contained 46 bags of cannabis totalling 44.95kg.
Fellow Brits Shania Mabel Rosalind Wood, 25, and Alethea Jade Demitre, 33, allegedly each had 33.1kg stuffed into multiple suitcases.
Another Brit, Daniel Jonathan Pearson, did not have drugs on him but is suspected of leading the group into the country, which is east of Africa.
He was first to arrive at a customs checkpoint and attempted to distract officials by becoming ‘violent and hostile’ in a bid to let the others pass without suspicion. according to Mauritian news outlet Defi Info.
Drug smuggling investigators from Mauritius’ police force were said to have been expecting some kind of an attempt thanks to ‘early surveillance’.
Authorities had gathered specific intelligence on an international drug trafficking network’, Defo Info added.
Pearson was arrested and the other eight were searched ‘simultaneously’.
The other suspects, including Dominican and Portuguese nationals, are Hansel Gomez, Esequiel Perez, Ildo Valera De Brito, Luis Manuel Herrera Martinez and Soraia Cristina Da Silva Cruz.
All nine have been charged with ‘drug dealing with aggravating circumstances’ and remain in custody.
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.’
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