One
in 10 fliers from Jamaica 'is drug mule'
By John Steele, Crime Correspondent and David Millward
(Filed: 04/01/2002)
A TENTH of all passengers flying from Jamaica to Britain could be carrying
cocaine, a British diplomat has warned.
Phil Sinkinson, deputy high commissioner in
Kingston, the Jamaican capital, said as much as 30kg of the drug could be
arriving on each plane hidden inside couriers.
Many of the "mules" were poor Jamaicans,
especially single mothers, tempted by payments of more than £3,000 from drug
barons in Jamaica or their associates in Britain.
Mr Sinkinson said a recent report that one in 10
passengers from Jamaica could be carrying drugs might be an underestimate. He
said: "There's certainly a fair number and each one can be carrying half a kilo.
If you had 60 people on board the flight there would be 30kg of cocaine.
"If you consider they are coming from areas of
pretty desperate poverty, a lot of them single mothers, it's very important for
them to be able to get hold of a fast buck to look after the family."
Mr Sinkinson's warning, on the BBC Radio 4 Today
programme, comes as Air Jamaica plans to increase its weekly flights between
Heathrow and Jamaica from five to nine. From June, it will also introduce two
flights each week from Manchester. British Airways has four weekly flights from
Gatwick.
Some police officers are known to be concerned
that the extra flights will provide Jamaica's Yardie gangsters with further
smuggling opportunities, despite the two airlines' commitment to security
measures.
The scale of the problem was illustrated last
month. On Dec 3, 23 passengers on an Air Jamaica flight to Heathrow were
arrested and charged after allegedly swallowing cocaine with a street value of
up to £1 million.
On Dec 12, £250,000 worth of cocaine was
discovered on a BA flight to Gatwick. Sixteen passengers were arrested for
allegedly swallowing packets of the drug.
However, there was some scepticism, particularly
in Customs circles, about the suggested scale of the drugs being brought in by
couriers. Last year, Customs seized about 11 tons of cocaine. Almost 750kg, well
below 10 per cent, originated in Jamaica, most coming in "mules".
The vast bulk of cocaine smuggled into Europe
and the UK comes in freight, particularly sea freight, organised by the
Colombian cartels.
Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Service
estimates that 25 to 40 tons of cocaine is targeted on Britain each year.
Customs sources say they believe that "mules" on airplanes bring in as much as
three tons a year.
This is only about a quarter of the total that
would be smuggled in if Mr Sinkinson's estimate of 30kg a flight is correct.
However, Customs sources do not believe that the
distribution of cocaine on Jamaica flights is even. Some will have no "mules"
while others will have a high number of drug carriers.
Mike Lowe, the branch secretary in the Public
and Commercial Services Union, agreed with Mr Sinkinson's views. "The figures
are not an exaggeration," Mr Lowe said at Heathrow yesterday. "This is certainly
a problem and one that has been on the increase for the last two to three
years."
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