‘Drug smuggle’ OAPs await trial in prison

A BRITISH couple suspected of being cocaine smugglers must stay in prison in Portugal until their trial because prosecutors fear there was a risk they would “continue to commit crime”.

Roger Clarke, 72 and his wife Sue, 70, were also deemed a “flight risk” if they were bailed.

The couple were held on December 4 after nine kilos of cocaine worth £2million was allegedly found in their cabin on the cruise liner MC Marco Polo when it docked at Lisbon Port.

The drugs were said to have been hidden inside false bottoms of holdalls, which Mr Clarke is said have boasted to other cruise passengers he bought on the Caribbean island of St Lucia.

They were remanded in custody on December 5.

The couple, who live near Guardamar del Segura on Spain’s Costa Blanca, were jailed in Norway for trafficking 260kg of cannabis resin in 2005.

A spokesman for Portugal’s Attorney General’s office said yesterday: “They were given pre-trial detention because [of] the existence of the risk they might abscond.”