4 Brits are amongst nine people reportedly arrested at Mauritius’ major airport on suspicion of attempting to smuggle an enormous haul of cannabis onto the island.
Eight of the group were found with a complete 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.
One other Brit, Daniel Jonathan Pearson, didn’t have drugs on him but is suspected of leading the group into the country, which is east of Africa.
He was first to reach at a customs checkpoint and attempted to distract officials by becoming ‘violent and hostile’ in a bid to let the others pass without suspicion. based on Mauritian news outlet Defi Info.
Drug smuggling investigators from Mauritius’ police force were said to have been expecting some form of an attempt due to ‘early surveillance’.
Authorities had gathered specific intelligence on a world drug trafficking network’, Defo Info added.
Pearson was arrested and the opposite eight were searched ‘concurrently’.
The opposite 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 coping with aggravating circumstances’ and remain in custody.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: ‘We’re supporting quite a few British nationals who’ve been detained in Mauritius and are in touch with the local authorities.’
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