This is the moment Colombian police swoop on a suspected British cocaine trafficker and find two kilos of the drug hidden under a Mexican hat in his suitcase as he tries to leave the country.
Cops watched the white powder turn blue after doing a color test at Cartagena’s international airport before taking it for a mug shot.
The illegal contents of his luggage, found in a false bottom, were displayed before him by a sign that said “COCAINE” in capital letters.
The arrest occurred when the anonymous traveler was trying to board a flight to Panama, although he planned to travel from there to Istanbul and investigators are trying to establish the final destination of the drugs.
The Briton was detected by police while passing through an X-ray scanner with the suitcase at Rafael Núñez International Airport, which serves the port city of Cartagena, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.
This is the moment Colombian police swoop on a suspected British cocaine trafficker and find two kilos of the drug hidden under a Mexican hat in his suitcase as he tries to leave the country.
The Briton was forced to stand between two armed officers for his mugshot wearing an expensive T-shirt by designer Dsquared2 following the discovery of the drugs.
The illegal contents of his luggage, found in a false bottom, were displayed before him by a sign that said ‘COCAINE’ in capital letters.
An interpreter asked him in English if it was his luggage before it was opened in front of him.
He was forced to stand between two armed officers for his mugshot wearing an expensive T-shirt from designer Dsquared2 following the discovery of the drugs.
It was not immediately clear last night whether he has yet appeared before a judge to remain in custody pending an ongoing investigation.
Four weeks ago, a Scotsman was arrested after two kilos of cocaine were also found in his suitcase when he tried to fly from the same airport.
Ricky Grant Courage, 32, from Aberdeen, planned to fly back to the UK with the drugs via Amsterdam. He is currently being held on remand in a hellish local prison.
It is not known if the two cases could be related.
In April, a British student was arrested after being caught smuggling cocaine disguised as milk out of Colombia.
The Briton was detected by police while passing through an X-ray scanner with the suitcase at the Rafael Núñez International Airport that serves the port city of Cartagena, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.
Cops watched the white powder turn blue after doing a color test at Cartagena’s international airport before taking it for a mugshot.
The 25-year-old 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 the packets of powdered milk in front of him before carrying out a color test at the airport to confirm they contained the illegal class A substance.
Colombian police forced the Briton, identified locally as Fahad Uddin Ahmed and described as a student, to pose in front of his stash of illegal drugs before being taken prisoner.
Local reports at the time 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 carried the cocaine inside four bags, marked Klim, in his carry-on luggage.
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 POUNDS 300,000 worth of cocaine.
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.
It was not immediately clear last night whether he has yet appeared before a judge to remain in custody pending an ongoing investigation.
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 in Lima, Peru, after they 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, both were sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.
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.”