A British mother and daughter, aged 47 and 19, were arrested at Valencia Airport after allegedly attempting to board a Birmingham-bound flight with 42 kilos of cocaine packed in their suitcases
A British mum and her daughter have been detained at a Spanish airport after attempting to fly back to the UK with 42 kilos of cocaine concealed in their baggage.
The duo, aged 47 and 19, allegedly masqueraded as holidaymakers visiting the eastern coastal city of Valencia for Easter before trying to return to Britain with cases packed with the class-A substance.
They were apprehended on Thursday evening last week, shortly before the commencement of the main Easter celebrations and approximately three days following their arrival. The cocaine had been concealed within two cases across 23 packages and in tablet form, according to local media reports.
The detained pair are understood to have been scheduled on a flight back to Birmingham. They were remanded to a local prison after appearing before a magistrate in Quart de Poblet, a municipality near Valencia which is closest to Valencia’s Manises Airport.
Officers have not yet issued any official statement but are anticipated to do so later today.
At the end of May Spanish authorities publicised the arrests of a British couple aged 33 and 34 detained at the same airport after 33 kilos of cannabis was discovered in their baggage.
They maintained at the time they were tourists arriving from Thailand.
The pair were held in custody after suspicious officers singled them out from other arriving passengers due to their “nervous and evasive attitude.” Confirming the latest arrests at the time, 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.”
It remained unclear this morning whether they are still being held behind bars.
In January last year an OnlyFans model was nabbed at Barcelona’s El Prat airport after flying from Thailand with more than 34 kilos of cannabis in her luggage.
Clara Wilson, from Huthwaite, Notts, was later imprisoned for three years after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle nearly £200,000 worth of drugs into Spain. She admitted to wrongdoing as part of a plea bargain arrangement after being offered a reduced sentence before her full trial.
Last October, British national Martin Renwick Hunter, 69, was imprisoned for nearly four years following his conviction for attempting to smuggle almost £100,000 worth of drugs onto a Spanish car ferry. He was apprehended while trying to board the Algeciras-bound vessel in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta on 13 July last year.