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Bluelighter
Pensioners 'smuggled drugs to Europe' on cruise ships
Fiona Govan
Telegraph
4.29.09
The senior citizens posed as tourists taking cruise holidays around South America to pick up packages of the drug to bring back to Spain, police said.
Two women in their sixties, who were chosen as "drug mules" because they were less likely to arouse the suspicion of authorities, were arrested as they prepared to disembark from a cruise ship when it docked in the port of Cadiz, south-western Spain.
Police found 27 kilos (59 lbs) of pure cocaine hidden in their cabin. It is thought the drug was collected when the cruise ship stopped in Brazil.
Another seven members of the ring were also arrested, including two who were to collect the drugs from the women when their ship docked in Spain, and the alleged leader of the operation who attempted to flee to Brazil.
"The group included members of an advanced age who boarded luxury trans-Atlantic cruises to pick up the narcotic in South America. The 'mules' would pass themselves off as tourists to try to elude police controls," said a police statement.
It is the first time that this method has been used to introduce cocaine into Spain, it added.
The arrests highlighted the increasingly ingenious smuggling methods used by traffickers to import the Class A drug into Spain for distribution across Europe.
Last month police in Barcelona seized a 42-piece crockery set, consisting of bowls, plates, cups and saucers, made entirely out of compressed cocaine.
The consignment, containing 20 kgs (44lbs) of the drug had been sent from Maracaibo, Venezuela's second-largest city, to Barcelona, via London. Police arrested a 35-year-old man when he went to pick up the package following a tip off.
Two weeks earlier police arrested a 66-year-old Chilean man when they discovered that his broken leg was supported by a "plaster cast" made out of cocaine.
The man, who was arrested when he touched down at Barcelona airport, also carried six cans of beer and two hollowed-out stools that contained the drug. Altogether, he was in possession of 4.85 kg of cocaine.
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Fiona Govan
Telegraph
4.29.09
The senior citizens posed as tourists taking cruise holidays around South America to pick up packages of the drug to bring back to Spain, police said.
Two women in their sixties, who were chosen as "drug mules" because they were less likely to arouse the suspicion of authorities, were arrested as they prepared to disembark from a cruise ship when it docked in the port of Cadiz, south-western Spain.
Police found 27 kilos (59 lbs) of pure cocaine hidden in their cabin. It is thought the drug was collected when the cruise ship stopped in Brazil.
Another seven members of the ring were also arrested, including two who were to collect the drugs from the women when their ship docked in Spain, and the alleged leader of the operation who attempted to flee to Brazil.
"The group included members of an advanced age who boarded luxury trans-Atlantic cruises to pick up the narcotic in South America. The 'mules' would pass themselves off as tourists to try to elude police controls," said a police statement.
It is the first time that this method has been used to introduce cocaine into Spain, it added.
The arrests highlighted the increasingly ingenious smuggling methods used by traffickers to import the Class A drug into Spain for distribution across Europe.
Last month police in Barcelona seized a 42-piece crockery set, consisting of bowls, plates, cups and saucers, made entirely out of compressed cocaine.
The consignment, containing 20 kgs (44lbs) of the drug had been sent from Maracaibo, Venezuela's second-largest city, to Barcelona, via London. Police arrested a 35-year-old man when he went to pick up the package following a tip off.
Two weeks earlier police arrested a 66-year-old Chilean man when they discovered that his broken leg was supported by a "plaster cast" made out of cocaine.
The man, who was arrested when he touched down at Barcelona airport, also carried six cans of beer and two hollowed-out stools that contained the drug. Altogether, he was in possession of 4.85 kg of cocaine.
Link!
