Drug smuggling mums jailed
10.05.08
Three mothers who attempted to smuggle £340,000 worth of cocaine into the country through Gatwick in their underwear have been jailed for 5½ years. The total weight of the drugs the 3 were carrying was 2.1 kgs - which must have made a few unsightly bulges.
Collette Williams, 38, Natalie Phillips, 28 and Cherie McClarnan, 21, all from Manchester, had been promised £3000 each to bring the drugs in to the UK, but they were caught by Customs officers at the airport. They pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court to 'illegal importation' charges.
Rosemary Burns, prosecuting, said the 3 women landed on flights in January last year and went into the 'nothing to declare' green channel. She said: ‘Ms Phillips, from St. Kitt, came in first and packages containing cocaine were found in her bra and knickers. Later that day, the other 2 arrived from Antigua, and they, too, had drugs in their underwear. All the packages were identical and hidden in an identical way.’
The women made statements to Customs officers accepting their part in the smuggling. Ms McClarnan, who has a son aged 3, said: ‘We met and arranged to bring drugs into the country. I knew it was illegal.' Ms Phillips, who has 6 children, said they were going to be paid £3000 on delivery, and Ms Williams, a mother of 2, also admitted her involvement in the plt.
Judge Simon Stow QC said: ‘The courts must take these offences very seriously, because these drugs cause misery and sometimes death to those unfortunate enough to become addicted.’ He made a travelling restriction which will prevent the women from going abroad for 3 years on their release.
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