Glut of Brit ‘drug mule' suspects grows after ANOTHER is arrested for ‘smuggling £110k of cannabis' to honeymoon island
Lee Adams, 40, was intercepted as he arrived at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport in the tiny East African country.
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Lee Adams (L) was intercepted as he arrived at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport
Credit: Facebook
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It's understood Adams, from Yardley, Birmingham, was behaving suspiciously as he got off the flight from London Gatwick
Credit: Facebook
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Adams, who works for a recruitment agency, failed to convince officials of the true nature of his trip
Credit: Facebook
It's understood Adams, from Yardley, Birmingham, was behaving suspiciously as he got off the flight from London Gatwick on May 24 and caught the eye of customs officers.
And when Adams, who works for a recruitment agency, failed to convince officials of the true nature of his trip, officers from the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU) swooped.
The officers found 5.75 kilos of cannabis with a street value of £110,000 concealed within his suitcase.
According to local news reports Adams, who was confronted with the evidence during an interrogation, admitted his role and was arrested on the spot.
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Investigators immediately launched a "controlled delivery" operation on
the holiday
island and two suspected accomplices, both believed to be British, were also arrested.
The trio appeared before Mahébourg District Court on drug trafficking charges on May 26.
An investigation has been launched and they currently remain in custody.
Married Adams had told
family
and friends back in the UK that he had taken a job doing demolition and security work on Mauritius.
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But when he failed to make contact with his wife Rebecca he was reported missing in a frantic Facebook post.
A source said: 'He knew a friend in Mauritius, with a company paying £4000 a week, he said he couldn't pass it up.
I'm one half of the infamous Peru 2 drug mules - this is my warning to Brit tourists & how gangs know EXACTLY who to target
'But then no one heard from him, not even his wife. Rebecca messaged his work pals to see if they'd heard from him and an appeal went out on Facebook.
'It was only then she discovered he'd been arrested when she saw a local news report online.'
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It's alleged Lee didn't buy his own plane ticket and a source claims another man recruited him for the trip.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: 'We are supporting a number of British nationals detained in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities.'
The arrest comes amid a spate of similar drug mule cases - with around 13 Brits currently kept in hellhole jails abroad.
Three Brits are
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A Brit couple were
While several young women have been arrested trying to smuggle cannabis from Thailand.
6
Brit woman Isabella Daggett was arrested just weeks after relocating to Dubai
6
Brit student Bella May Culley was arrested in Georgia after allegedly carrying drugs into the country from Thailand
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6
Brit Charlotte May Lee was arrested in Sri Lanka after allegedly trying to smuggle in drugs
In the last couple of months,
And former air stewardess
Young mum,
Cameron Bradford, 21, from Knebworth,
, was detained at
Airport on April 21 as she tried to collect her luggage.
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Separately, two
And
Isabella Daggett, 21, was
from
after landing a new job
.
The Brit woman is
family
has said.
Glamorous
Sophie
Bannister and Levi-April Whalley landed back on
soil with their suitcases seemingly packed full of shopping.
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The pair, both 30, were stopped at
with more than 35kg of
in their bags.
Bannister, now of Cotton Lane,
Whalley, of Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn, was handed a 16-month sentence suspended for 18 months, with 10 days rehabilitation and 80 hours of unpaid work.
Why Brit backpackers are prime targets, Thai cop reveal
By
Police Lieutenant Colonel Arun Musikim, Deputy Inspector of the Surat Thani province police force, said: 'Cases involving British nationals smuggling cannabis have been around for a while.
'There is a lot of cannabis grown on Thailand's islands in the south because the climate is suitable and it is legal. A lot of gangs are attracted to this.
'There are now various smuggling methods that we have seen. Some carry it themselves, some hire backpackers, and some send it via mail.
'This year, there have been many cases we have intercepted. Most involve British and Malaysian nationals.
'It's easy for British citizens to travel as they can enter Thailand and return to the UK without needing a visa.
'Most of the smugglers are people hired to carry the cannabis, similar to how tourists might smuggle tax-free goods.
'They're usually unemployed individuals from the UK. The gangs offer them flights, pocket money and hotel stays, just to come and travel and take a bag back home with them.
'These people often have poor social standing at home and are looking for ways to earn quick money. They find them through friends or on social media.
'Many will go to festivals or parties while they are here, just like they are having a normal trip abroad.
'They are told that it is easy and they will not be caught. Then the amount the organisers can sell the cannabis for in the UK is much higher than it costs in Thailand.
'Police suspect that there are multiple employers and groups receiving the drugs on the other end. The cannabis then enters the UK market.
'We are being vigilant to ensure there are no routes out of the country.'
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Irish Daily Mirror
7 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
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One man fled Shannon in terror in his gym-gear without his belongings, while another man became a target of online hate and felt that there was a bounty on his head after they were both falsely identified as 'sick paedos' in a Facebook post, a court has heard. At Ennis Circuit Court, the author of the 'malicious' Facebook post from November 2023, Martin Hannon (43) of Tradaree Court, Shannon has pleaded guilty to a stalking offence from November 2nd to November 16th 2023 against the two innocent men. In the post, a carpenter, Mr Hannon offered a €1,000 reward for information about the owners of two cars over what he claimed was an attempted abduction in Shannon of a 13 year old girl known to him. 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Garda Claire Burke agreed with Ms Comeford that this caused an outpouring on social media and people believed that these men were involved in this incident with the child. Ms Comerford said that an example of the comments to Mr Hannon's post included describing the two as 'dirty scumbags' and being 'very scared for our kids'. Ms Comerford said that Mr Hannon gave an interview to a local newspaper, The Clare Echo that was entitled 'Shannon man offers award of €1,000 to track down alleged abductors'. In a victim impact statement read out in court by Garda Burke, one of the men falsely accused by Mr Hannon said that arising from what he described as Mr Hannon's 'malicious' actions, 'almost overnight I became a target of online hate and public suspicion'. The man said that the reward 'only increased the sense of danger'. He said: 'I was afraid to leave my home or to travel to work.' The man said that the false accusation 'turned my daily life into a waking nightmare'. 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When charged with the offences under new harassment legislation, Mr Hannon told Gardai 'I'm sorry about how this turned out, it wasn't my intention'. Judge Francis Comerford has adjourned the case to the Autumn for sentence and Mr Hannon has been further remanded on bail. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
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Clare man pleads guilty to harassment after Facebook post falsely accusing men of trying to grab a 13-year-old girl
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He said that arising from Mr Hannon's Facebook post he was unable to attend work for a period 'and I lost time and money and progressional standing'. He said: 'To this day, I can't understand why this happened… I was an innocent person caught up in a situation I had absolutely nothing to do with.' He said that was 'deeply traumatised' where 'I was targeted, my safety was compromised and my peace of mind was taken away'. The man from a Leinster county said: 'This is where I hid out for weeks, too scared to go back to my apprenticeship and work placement in Shannon and too scared to be seen anywhere in my car. 'I was terrified for myself and my family as my car is very identifiable. I knew that many people recognised that it was me in the posts which made me very very isolated and wary in case anyone believed the accusation. He added: 'I missed several weeks of work at a crucial time of my apprenticeship." 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