Woman who introduced £15m price of cocaine to UK from Mexico stated she ‘thought it was cheese’

A Brit is facing up to 60 years behind bars after she was found with 43kg of cocaine. The haul, worth £15 million, was opened up by Homeland Security in the US during a random check. Kim Hall, 28, was led away in handcuffs while stunned and in tears. Kim, who says she was asked to bring two suitcases home for a pair of British men – insists she is innocent.

She said the men told her the suitcases were full of cash and that she was made to carry them at gunpoint. “I’m not a drug trafficker and I’m going to fight with every bone in my body to prove my innocence,” Kim told The Sun, adding she said she agreed to carry the bags because there was “no reason not to” and that she “didn’t see anything wrong in it”.

The ordeal began when Kim was offered a free holiday to Mexico by two British men. They had befriended Kim on a previous holiday to Portugal and told her they had property interests in Central America. At the end of the trip, Kim said the men asked her to take two bags home with her, saying they contained $250,000 in cash. Kim, from Middlesbrough, said: “I had no suspicion that this was about drugs…”

Kim said the men asked her to take two bags home with her, saying they contained $250,000 in cash. Kim, from Middlesbrough, said: “I had no suspicion that this was about drugs…” “He said, ‘I’ll f***ing shoot you.’ It was the most frightening thing I’ve ever experienced… I was screaming at them to let me go. I thought, I’m going to end up dead if I don’t carry this money. At first they were the nicest people but by now they had taken my phone and my passport off me.”

On August 18, Kim landed at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Security were supsicious of Kim carrying two bags and decided to make a security check. Kim said: “It looked like papier mache and was covered in some type of oil. My next thought was, is that cheese? They started to tear the cases apart and handcuffed me and took me into a room.”

She was found more than 900 grams, a crime that carries a sentence of between 15 and 60 years behind bars. Shocked, Kim was told she would be deported, but was then taken into custody by police. In her panicked state, she asked an officer if America still has the death penalty, causing him to laugh and tell her she had been watching “too many films”.

“I finally called my mum and her screams were like nothing ever heard,” Kim recalled, adding. “The police asked if I wanted a lawyer and I replied I was telling the truth so I don’t need one. I really thought by being honest they would let me go home.” Kim was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and intent to deliver it and pleaded not guilty. The judge is expected to fix a trial date in her next appearance in court this week.

The Foreign Office has said it is supporting a British woman detained in the US.

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