British family arrested in Jamaica over cocaine smuggling charge

Police allegedly caught Andrea Henry, 39, and her daughter Toni Bellamy, 17, trying to ingest the drug before boarding their flight home.

Both mother and daughter, from Middlesbrough, and Ms Henry's partner Wayne Walshaw, 32, from Cleveland, were arrested and are due to appear in court today.

An HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officer confirmed all three were suspected of swallowing packets of cocaine.

Drug allegation: The alleged smugglers were held at Sangster International

They were picked up at Sangster International Airport on Sunday night and will appear before a court in Montego Bay later.

Tony Walker, director of border force intelligence and national operations at the UK Border Agency, said: 'The use of such young people in smuggling drugs demonstrates the ruthless nature of those criminal gangs involved in the illegal narcotics trade and the misery they cause.

'The dedication of UK and Jamaican drug detection officers has prevented deadly Class A drugs from entering the UK.'

Officials have set up a specific project, dubbed Operation Airbridge, to catch drug smugglers seeking to use the island as a gateway to Britain and Europe.

It was established in 2002 by HMRC and is now run by the UK Border Agency in partnership with the Jamaican authorities.

HMRC said the air courier route from Jamaica, either directly to the UK or in transit through other EU airports, was identified as a specific threat.

Walshaw's father, Robert, 56, said today that he only found out about his arrest when he rang his son to tell him his mother, Susan, 50, had died.

He had been expecting him to fly back on Sunday for her funeral but received a phone call that night to say he had been arrested.

He said he had phoned his son to inform him his mother Susan, 50, had died and thought he was flying back on Sunday for the funeral.

The home of Andrea Henry and daughter Toni Bellamy who will appear before a Jamaican court

'I don't know anything,' he said from his home in the Brotton area of Saltburn, Cleveland. 'All I know is that he was arrested. I had to bury his mother a couple of days ago.'

Ms Henry's mother, Irene Homer, said: 'We are all in shock, it's unbelievable. We've only had one phone call. We don't know what's happening.'

A neighbour of the mother and daughter, Lawrence Kavanagh, 47, said: 'They seemed very quiet. In a way I am surprised at the news but then in another way I am not. They were always going away, leaving the daughter to look after the house.

'I work shifts so I didn't always see them but some weeks the car would be parked on the drive then it would be gone for a few days and then it would be back. It was a regular occurrence.'

He described Mr Walsham and Ms Henry as a 'nice couple'.