A British student has been arrested after he was allegedly caught smuggling cocaine disguised as milk out of Colombia.
Fahad Uddin Ahmed, 25, was detained when he tried to board a plane bound for London from the Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport, near the city of Cali.
Officers opened packets of powdered milk in front of him before carrying out a color drug test at the airport which they claim confirmed the packets contained the illegal class A substance.
Colombian police made the British student pose in front of what is claimed to be a stash of illegal drugs before being taken prisoner.
Local reports said the plane he planned to board was headed to London with a connection in the German city of Frankfurt.
He is said to have been carrying four bags, marked Klim, in his hand luggage, which police believe contain cocaine.
British student Fahad Uddin Ahmed, 25, was arrested in Colombia after allegedly trying to smuggle cocaine disguised as powdered milk.
The student was suspected of attempting to transport “10,000 doses” of the class A drug to London.
It was not immediately clear today whether he had already appeared before a judge and was being held in custody pending an ongoing investigation.
Police say he had “10,000 doses” of the drug with him, although the exact weight is still unclear.
A police spokesman said: “The person arrested is British.
‘He was carrying cocaine disguised as milk. “He was detected when his luggage was searched at the Alfonso Bonilla Aragón airport by officers stationed at the airport who were working with immigration agents,” police stated.
The agents also published images of the drug test they performed on the British traveler.
A person acting as a translator could be up there saying, “We’re just checking everything we’re going to do,” while a gloved officer inspected the milk packages and explained that he was going to analyze the substance they contained.
The English speaker added: “We’re going to test each one individually as part of the narco test” moments before a chemical reaction caused the white napkins placed in front of the packages to turn a telltale blue.
Two uniformed officers took the detainee away, handcuffed and with a somber expression.
It was not immediately clear today whether he had already appeared before a judge and was being held in custody pending an ongoing investigation.
According to the Colombian penal code, if a person has 10 to 28 grams of cocaine in their possession, it is considered trafficking, and for the first offense they would face a sentence of three to 10 years in prison.
Early last month, a British man was arrested after attempting to leave the Dominican Republic with two suitcases full of suspected cocaine.
The 32-year-old man was detained while trying to board a plane to Frankfurt, Germany.
Police on the Caribbean island confirmed the arrest and said they were trying to find out if he was part of a larger drug gang.
Officers also released video footage showing them counting the 36 cellophane-wrapped packages containing the suspected cocaine, barely hidden under a thin layer of clothing.
Londoner Modou Adams was detained in October for seven years after being caught trying to fly out of Peru.
The arrest was made at the Punta Cana International Airport after specialized sniffer dogs located the two suspicious suitcases. The British man was arrested after carrying out specific tests for the suspected drugs.
Last October, a British model who flaunted his jet-setting lifestyle on social media was jailed for seven years in Peru after being caught trying to fly out of the country with cocaine worth £300,000.
Londoner Modou Dodou Adams captivated his thousands of followers on social media with his avant-garde appearance and his VIP tour around the world under the nickname ‘boywholives’ in a spectacle of excess described by authorities as a cover for his criminal activities.
His apparent glamor world was left in tatters after he confessed to being a drug dealer and was told he now faces the next six years and eight months in a hellish prison in South America.
Adams, 25, was detained at the Lima international airport when he tried to check-in for a flight to London via Paris with almost three kilos of cocaine in his suitcase.
He was sentenced in a quick trial 24 hours after his arrest by the same police force that detained Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid, the so-called Peru Dos, in August 2013.
The Peru Two, Michaella McCollum of Dungannon, Northern Ireland, and Melissa Reid of Lenzie, Scotland, were arrested on August 6, 2013, on suspicion of drug smuggling at Jorge Chavez International Airport, Lima, Peru, after It was discovered that his luggage contained 11 kilos of cocaine.
They initially claimed they had been coerced by an armed gang, but later pleaded guilty.
On December 17, 2013, the couple was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.
Melissa Reid (right) and Michaella McCollum Conolly (left) were arrested at the Lima airport with cocaine in their luggage.
In early 2016, both women attempted to return to the UK.
McCollum applied for parole and was released on March 31, 2016, with the prospect of having to remain in Peru for up to six years.
In April 2016, Peruvian authorities agreed to expel Reid from the country.
He was released from prison on June 21 of that year and immediately returned to Britain, arriving at Glasgow Airport the following day.
McCollum returned to Europe two months later, arriving at Dublin Airport in Ireland on August 13, 2016.
He later wrote a book about his experiences titled “You’ll Never See the Light of Day Again.”
In June 2022, a British man identified locally at the time as Russell Tamer was arrested on suspicion of attempting to smuggle cocaine from a Colombian airport strapped to his body.
Police detained him when he allegedly dumped a package containing the drugs in an airport bathroom after seeing uniformed officers at an airport security.
The arrest took place at the Simón Bolívar International Airport, the airport that serves the city of Santa Marta in Colombia, capital of the department of Magdalena.
It was not immediately clear today whether he has yet been prosecuted by the courts.
Cocaine production and trafficking are considered the main driver of an almost six-decade armed conflict in Colombia that has left more than 450,000 dead and millions displaced.