Teen smugglers found guilty

2007-11-21 14:29

Francis Kokutse

Accra - Two British teenage girls were found guilty on Wednesday of trying to smuggle cocaine out of Ghana in laptop bags, said officials and lawyers.

The 16-year-old students from London were to be sentenced on December 05, said Gary Nicholls, a spokesperson for the British High Commission announced the ruling outside of the courthouse. They faced up to three years in jail.

Nicholls said both girls were found guilty on counts of possession and trafficking of narcotic drugs. The two were arrested at Accra Airport in July with nearly six kilograms of the drug in their computer cases.

Officials had said earlier that the two had been recruited in London by drug traffickers who promised them an all expenses-paid vacation in return for serving as "mules" - drug couriers. The teens reportedly left for Africa, telling their parents that they were going on a holiday in France.

The head of the girls' legal team said they planned to appeal.

Sabine Zanker said: "We are deeply disappointed at the verdict. These are two extremely vulnerable young girls whose naivete was ruthlessly exploited by the man who lured them to Ghana and led them to this terrible fate."

The juvenile courtroom was closed to the public. West Africa was increasingly becoming a transit point for drugs headed to Europe.

Cocaine, mostly from Colombia, was brought on small planes and dropped on islands off the little-policed Atlantic Ocean coast, then distributed to couriers who carried it into Europe.

British and Ghanaian officials began collaborating last year after the number of drug-related arrests at London airports linked to West African flights surged.

- AP