Teenage girl arrested in Jamaica over cocaine claims
Thursday, 12 Jun 2008 14:44
The 17-year-old girl was arrested in Jamaica accused of smuggling cocaine
A Middlesbrough woman, her partner and a 17-yerar-old girl have been arrested in Jamaica suspected of attempting to smuggle drugs.
The three were arrested at the Sangster international airport in Montego Bay on June 8th by the Jamaican authorities.
Police claim the two women were caught attempting to smuggle cocaine internally and all three are suspected of swallowing packages of cocaine before boarding a flight back to Manchester.
The trio were arrested as part of Operation Airbridge, a UK Border Agency initiative working in partnership with the Jamaican authorities, aimed at catching drug smugglers using the island as a gateway to the UK and
Europe.
Tony Walker, from the UK Border Agency, said: "The use of such young people in smuggling drugs demonstrates the ruthless nature of those criminal gangs involved in the illegal narcotics trade and the misery they cause.
"The dedication of UK and Jamaican drug detection officers has prevented deadly class A drugs from entering the UK.
"Operation Airbridge powerfully demonstrates the importance of working closely with other global partners such as Jamaica. This collaboration is helping to protect both countries from the violence and corruption that always accompanies the trade in illegal drugs."