Pregnant drugs mule, 19, who was caught trying to smuggle 22kg of cannabis into Britain from Canada is spared jail after telling court she need cash for house deposit
Daniella KanKam-Adu, 19, was offered £250 in return for smuggling £225,000 worth of cannabis from Canada to Newcastle Airport on March 3 this year.
The 19-year-old, of Queens Road, London, said she believed her luggage contained vapes, but Border Force quickly found heaps of the Class B drug.
When questioned if she had packed her own luggage by airport officials, KanKam-Adu insisted that she had but there was nothing of concern within it.
Prosecuting, Kevin Wardlaw told Newcastle Crown Court: 'When asked to open one [item of her luggage] she said she didn't have the key. She became aware the locks would be forced.
'Her attitude changed, she became obstructive, making comments to the officer. The officer was not being racist, it was just a random check.'
The suitcase was found to contain 22.5 kilos of cannabis, worth around £67,500 wholesale and with a street value of £225,000.
She pleaded guilty to being concerned in the fraudulent evasion on the prohibition on the importation of cannabis.
The 19-year-old said she believed her luggage contained vapes, but Border Force at Newcastle Airport (pictured) quickly found heaps of the Class B drug
Prosecutors accepted her basis of plea, which was that a friend suggested she could make money by helping to bring vapes back to the UK and avoid paying tax.
KanKam-Adu said she was told she would be paid £250 to carry out the act and went to Toronto on tickets given to her and followed instructions.
She said she was given a suitcase to bring back to the UK and realised because of the size and weight that it did not contain vapes and must be cannabis.
KanKam-Adu added that she didn't know the value of the drugs and decided to come back anyway as she needed the money and had a plane ticket.
Glenn Gatland, defending, said KanKam-Adu had a difficult childhood and spent time in a care home. He added that before the offence, she discovered she was pregnant and didn't want the child to experience the same childhood she had.
Mr Gatland said the 19-year-old needed money for a deposit on somewhere to live and was 'naive' in agreeing to the suggestion of a friend to bring vapes back to the UK.
He added that she has been remanded in custody for three months, during which time she suffered a miscarriage.
Mr Gatland added: 'She has spent three months in custody and that will certainly serve as a deterrent to her to keep out of trouble in future.'
KanKam-Adu was sentenced to 12 months suspended for 18 months.
It comes amid two other high-profile cases of alleged drug smuggling by young British girls.
Both Bella Culley, 18, and Charlotte May Lee, 21, have been detained by foreign authorities in the last week.
When entering Georgia from Thailand, Culley's suitcase was found to have contained 14kg of cannabis - said to be worth around £200,000.
Culley last week told court she was pregnant, but as she faces a minimum of 15 years if convicted, the baby could be raised inside notorious Women's Colony No 5 outside the capital, Tbilisi.
Her father Niel Culley last night vowed to stay in the Black Sea nation for 'as long as it takes'.
'I can't say anything but I will be here for as long as it takes,' he told the Mail. 'I obviously have no experience in dealing with situations like this and it's very difficult.'
The British Embassy in Tbilisi told RFE: 'We are assisting the family of the British woman detained in Georgia and are also in contact with the local authorities.'
Elsewhere, air stewardess Lee was detained at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka last Monday where police say she had a stash of £1.15million of kush - a synthetic strain of the drug.
She left Bangkok Airport within hours of Bella who was arrested entering Tbilisi Airport on a flight via Sharjah, UAE, last Sunday. It means they could be related cases.
Former Georgian police general Jemal Janashia, one of the country's foremost drug crime experts, told the Mail: 'The fact that two young British women have taken off with large quantities of drugs from the same airport will interest investigators.
Miss Lee, a former TUI cabin crew member, left Bangkok Airport within hours of Bella who was arrested entering Tbilisi Airport on a flight via Sharjah, UAE, last Sunday - meaning they could be related cases
'They will be concerned about the possibility of a link and that Thai gangs may be attempting to recruit vulnerable British travellers.'
Both girls departed from the Thai capital during the Royal Ploughing Ceremony weekend. It is one of the busiest festivals of the year when airports are overloaded with tourists - a prime opportunity for gangs to try to push through mules.
The two arrests also follow a huge crackdown on smugglers sending cannabis to the UK by post.
A joint operation by both countries has seen a 90 per cent in reduction in the drug being mailed to Britain since last year.
It suggests Thai gangs may now be reverting to using drug mules to ship their products instead - and targeting British backpackers.
The FCDO said with regards to Miss Lee's case: 'We are supporting a British woman who has been arrested in Sri Lanka and are in contact with her family and the local authorities.'
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