London teens charged with Ghana cocaine smuggling
The girls were arrested at Ghana's international airport
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Thursday, 12, Jul 2007 08:22
Two 16-year-old London students have been provisionally charged with the alleged smuggling of £300,000 worth of cocaine out of Ghana.
The pair, who have been named locally as Yasemin Vatansever and Yatunde Diya from Islington, north London, were detained at Accra Airport on July 2nd while trying to board a London-bound flight.
A statement from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said the arrests were part of Operation Westbridge – a joint UK-Ghanaian project to tackle drug trafficking in the country.
"The use of such young girls as couriers vividly illustrates the ruthlessness of the criminal drug gangs involved in this traffic," Tony Walker, the head of Operation Westbridge, said.
"The dedication of UK and Ghanaian drug detection officers has prevented deadly Class A drugs from entering the UK."
A spokeswoman from the Foreign Office said that the two girls' next of kin had been informed of the arrests.
She added that the department was providing "full consular assistance" over the incident.