A British beautician accused of smuggling £15million worth of cocaine in her suitcases claimed she believed she was carrying two bags of “cash” into the UK from Mexico.
Kim Hall, 28, from Middlesbrough, was detained at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport as she prepared to board a connecting flight to Manchester on August 18.
Homeland Security investigators found 43 kg of cocaine packed in two suitcases before arresting the young woman.
Now facing 60 years in prison in the United States, Hall claims she agreed to carry two suitcases home for a pair of British men under the belief that the bags contained only cash.
She insists she was forced to carry her suitcases at gunpoint after being offered free vacations to Mexico by two men she befriended on a previous getaway to Portugal, who said they had real estate interests in Central America.
Additionally, Hall claimed that his psychiatrist believes he was in the middle of a manic episode when he agreed to carry the bags.
Kim Hall, 28, (pictured) is accused of smuggling £15million worth of cocaine in her suitcases.
Ms Hall claims she agreed to take two suitcases home for a pair of British men believing the bags only contained cash.
talking to the sunMrs Hall said: “I’m not a bad person.” I have never had problems in my life and I am not guilty of what they accuse me of.
“They pointed a gun at my head and threatened to shoot me.”
As her week-long trip to Cancun was coming to an end, Hall claimed the men asked her to take two suitcases with her, which they said contained $250,000 in cash.
“I agreed because there was no reason not to. It was just money and I didn’t see anything wrong with it,” he said.
The beautician claimed she missed her flight due to a scheduling mix-up, after which one of the men pointed a gun at her head and threatened her.
“I was yelling at them to let me go. I thought: I’m going to end up dead if I don’t take this money,” she said.
When Ms. Hall finally took a flight home, she landed at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport for a connection to London, and that’s when officials conducted a random check of her luggage because they suspected she had two suitcases. .
Hall also claimed that his psychiatrist believes he was in the middle of a manic episode when he agreed to carry the bags.
An aerial view of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, where Ms. Hall was searched and detained.
Cook County Jail in South Lawndale, a Chicago community on the west side
Kim is pictured with her mother Tracy. Kim’s parents have insisted that she is innocent.
The young woman collapsed crying as she was handcuffed and taken to prison.
Mrs Hall is now under house arrest and is only allowed out two days a week, with two electronic tags attached to her.
Her father, John Hall, 59, previously defended his daughter, saying the only thing she is guilty of is “stupidity and naivety.”
He told the Sun: ‘She’s not a drug dealer. They told him that what he was carrying would be money.
‘They took his phone and threatened his family and that’s why he did it.
“She had been in Portugal with a friend and met people there who contacted her when she returned to tell her they were interested in real estate in Mexico and she could go on a free vacation.”
He added that she is ‘petrified’ after telling him that ‘you don’t understand what they were threatening me with.’
Following her arrest in August, Ms. Hall was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver following her arrest in August.
Due to the amount of drugs seized, the crime is in the upper sentencing bracket, with a Class X felony carrying between 15 and 60 years in prison.
