BRIT’S £4M DRUG HAUL Police find 32kg of cocaine in suitcase
A HANDCUFFED Brit looks on as cops examine a suspected £4.5million stash of cocaine found in a suitcase.
Sean Woods, 24, was arrested in a swoop at a shopping mall in Lima, Peru.
Police say they discovered 31 brick-type packages in the case weighing about 32kg ( 70lbs). The haul was taken away for forensic analysis.
The Peruvian Ministry of Justice said yesterday Woods, of Liverpool, was being held on suspicion of drug trafficking.
Police released pictures of him sitting on a chair in handcuffs as officers lined up the packages in front of him.
In a post on social media, investigators described Woods as being “caught redhanded” before being “led away to cells”.
Marked
Each of the 31 packages found in the blue suitcase he had with him was marked with the letter “R”. Police are linking it with a criminal gang.
Peruvian authorities allege Woods was set to transport the “illicit” packages as part of a drug mule arrangement.
The Foreign Office said: ‘We are providing consular assistance to a British national arrested in Peru.”
In 2013, Michaella McCollum, from Northern Ireland, and Scot Melissa Reid were caught at Lima’s international airport trying to smuggle 11kg (24lbs) of cocaine worth £1.5million out of Peru.
They claimed they were forced to carry the drugs by an armed gang. They got six years and eight months each after admitting smuggling, but were freed in 2016 after striking a deal with Peruvian authorities.