Brit ‘drug mule’ couple arrested in Spain with 33kgs of cannabis in THIRD smuggler case linked to Thailand in just weeks
A BRITISH couple claiming to be tourists from Thailand have been busted with more than 33kg of cannabis in their suitcases at a Spanish airport.
The pair were picked out by suspicious cops at Valencia Airport after displaying a “nervous and evasive attitude” and are now behind bars on drug trafficking charges.
The man and woman were stopped before reaching customs, with officials later discovering vacuum-packed marijuana and no clothes or personal belongings in their luggage.
Confirming the latest arrests, a spokesman for the Civil Guard in Valencia said: “The Civil Guard and Tax Agency have arrested two people on a flight from France for carrying more than 33 kilograms of vacuum-packed marijuana in their suitcases.
“The two passengers, a British man and woman, were displaying a nervous and evasive attitude and were stopped before they reached customs control.
“They said they were coming from Thailand and were entering Spain as tourists and had nothing to declare.
“Following standard procedure, their suitcases were put through a specialist scanner which showed up a large amount of organic material in both but no clothes or personal belongings.
“The cases were subsequently opened in their presence and found to contain a substance which tested positive in the cannabis-marijuana drugs test.
“The drugs were subsequently confirmed to be 33,540 grams of marijuana.
“The British man and woman were subsequently arrested for a crime of drug trafficking and remanded in prison following a court appearance.”
This marks the third case in weeks involving British nationals and alleged drug smuggling linked to Thailand.
Bella May Culley, 18, sparked a massive international search operation in early May after she was reported missing while she was believed to be holidaying in Thailand.
But it was later revealed that the teen, from Billingham, County Durham, had been arrested 4,000 miles away on drug offences in Georgia, allegedly carrying 14kg of cannabis into the ex-Soviet nation.
The teen – who posted online about living a “Bonnie and Clyde” lifestyle – is now in Georgia’s grim No5 Women’s Penitentiary near Rustavi, facing 15 years to life in prison.
Her new lawyer Malkhaz Salakaia, a juvenile law specialist, said Bella didn’t even know where she was when arrested.
Bella is said to have told her lawyer she is pregnant and cooperated with police for the first time last week, as her anguished dad Niel visited her for 45 minutes and delivered food and clothes.
And recently 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May, from Coulsdon, south London, was arrested in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo after police discovered 46 kg of ‘Kush’ – a synthetic strain of cannabis – in her suitcase.
The former flight attendant, facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted, is claiming she had ‘no idea’ about the drugs worth up to £1.2 million.
She insists they must have been planted in her luggage without her knowledge.
Charlotte, a part-time beautician and ex-TUI stewardess, had flown into Sri Lanka from Thailand and was snapped in a white outfit and sparkly sandals just after her arrest.
Her two suitcases were reportedly stuffed with tightly vacuum sealed packages of the deadly synthetic drug, 25 times more potent than fentanyl.
She claims she left her packed bags unattended overnight in her Bangkok hotel while out partying and had no idea what was inside.
“I had never seen them before,” she said.
A mystery British man she met in Thailand was reportedly waiting for her at Colombo airport, and sources fear she may have been under his influence.
Charlotte is now holed up in the overcrowded Welikada Prison, where she’s been forced to sleep on a concrete floor, clean herself with a bucket of water and survive on rice and curry.
“She is a total mess,” a source told The Sun.
“She hates the food… The prison is not fit for a rat to live in.”
She broke down in court after being told she may not be sentenced for another 12 months and is now banned from contacting loved ones.