CUSTOMS LET CANNABIS SMUGGLERS WALK FREE

Officers 'Too Busy' Seizing Cocaine

TWO drug smugglers walked free after being caught with a pounds 100,000
haul of cannabis in Britain's busiest airport.

Customs officers released the pair without charge because they were
"swamped" with so many passengers attempting to smuggle cocaine on the same
flight from Jamaica.

A man of 23 and a 16-year-old girl had tried to smuggle the cannabis in two
suitcases through Heathrow Airport on a Sunday afternoon Air Jamaica
flight. Customs officers confiscated the drug.

They can use discretion to release suspects without charge if the drug is
for "personal use" in amounts up to 50 grammes. But the smugglers were
freed even though they were caught with a stash 1,000 times bigger. At the
time, the customs officers were busy arresting a number of "swallowers" -
drug smugglers who gulp down plastic bags full of cocaine.

The Sunday afternoon flight from Jamaica is notorious for drug smuggling
and customs officers are under intense pressure to stop the illegal trade.
A Customs & Excise officer said: "These two people were released without
even being interviewed because we didn't have enough troops.

"It was 50 kilogrammes and they were let off. I have never known anyone get
away with so much."

The pair were caught at the airport's Terminal 3 a fortnight ago and held
for three hours. The officer added: "They should have been interviewed and
charged, but we just let them go."