According to reports, a group of adults and a six-year-old British boy were arrested at an airport after 30 pounds of cocaine were purportedly discovered in their luggage.
After arriving at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport in Plaine Magnien, Mauritius, on Sunday, June 22, customs officials found an incredible 161 kilogrammes (355 pounds) of cannabis hidden within multiple suitcases, leading to the arrest of eight people, including the toddler.
The small boy’s bag contained an astounding 14 kilogrammes (30 pounds) by itself, and another 17 kilogrammes (37 pounds) were discovered in another traveler’s luggage.
Astonished customs officers also found eleven numbered Apple AirTags among the luggage, indicating connections to an organised crime gang smuggling drugs from Europe into Mauritius. The discovery was made as part of a joint operation between the airport’s Anti-Drug & Smuggling Unit (ADSU) and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Section (CANS).
The Sun said that authorities called the child’s employment as a drug mule “inhumane.”
On Wednesday, June 25, the boy’s father flew to Mauritius to pick him up, and he has since returned to the UK.
Laura Kappen, 28, a barman from Orton Goldhay; Shannon Holness, 29, a caterer from Bretton; Shona Campbell, 33, a cleaner from Standground; Lily Watson, a caterer from Peterborough; and Patrick Wilsdon, 21, a window fitter from Peterborough, are the six British adults who were arrested; they are all from Cambridgeshire.
Florian Lisman, a 38-year-old machine operator from Romania who lives in Huntingdon, was also taken into custody.
The seven adults, who are still being held while investigations are ongoing, appeared in court in Mahébourg on Monday, June 23, barely one day after arriving from London Gatwick.
In the UK, shocked family members have spoken out, expressing shock at the arrests. Suspect Patrick Wilsdon’s mother, Carly Wilsdon, told The Sun that her son was “vulnerable” and had only taken one overseas trip, implying that he might have been enticed by the prospect of a “free holiday” to Mauritius.
“He wouldn’t have known what he was doing because he wouldn’t get involved in drugs,” she said. “The person who told them about this free holiday is one of his circle of friends but now he has disappeared.”
Experts have previously cautioned that a number of high-profile arrests abroad have occurred as a result of British nationals being persuaded to participate as drug mules by the “lucrative offer” of a free vacation overseas in exchange for carrying drugs or “mysterious packages” over borders.
The Mauritius case follows a string of comparable occurrences involving British nationals. According to the Daily Mail, Charlotte May Lee, a 21-year-old former air stewardess, was detained in Sri Lanka in May after cannabis valued at £1.15 million was purportedly discovered in her suitcase.
After going missing in Thailand, 18-year-old Bella May Culley was arrested in Georgia on suspicion of importing cannabis. If convicted, she may spend up to 20 years behind bars.
A Foreign Office spokesperson has confirmed: “We are supporting several British nationals who are detained in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities.”