Britons charged with drug smuggling

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Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) said Tanisha Samuel, 20, and Shereen Mariah Hardy, 17, were detained after a random spot check at Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay, on Sunday.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said the drugs, weighing around 2.3kg and with a value of around £170,000, were apparently found stitched into the hair pieces.

A JCF spokeswoman said the pair, both unemployed and from the Derby area, were charged with possession, dealing and attempting to export cocaine, and will appear at Montego Bay Resident Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

They had been on holiday in Jamaica for two weeks before their arrest, and have allegedly told police they were to be paid £4,000 for smuggling drugs into the UK, an HMRC spokeswoman said.

The arrests came about as part of Operation Airbridge, a joint UK-Jamaican collaboration to catch drugs couriers - known as "mules" - before they board planes from Jamaica.

Tony Walker, of the UK Border Agency and head of Operation Airbridge, said: "The dedication of the UK and Jamaican drugs detection officers has prevented deadly class A drugs from entering the UK.

"The Airbridge Operation is delivering real results in this and other cases by helping to protect both countries from the violence and corruption that always accompanies the trade in illegal drugs."

Operation Airbridge was launched in June 2002 by the British and Jamaican governments to tackle the increasing number of mules smuggling cocaine between Jamaica and the UK.

The number detected at UK airports from Jamaica has fallen from around 1,000 a year to five in 2007, the HMRC said.