Army hero claims smugglers planted drug in his bags

By Tim Brown in Madrid

A BRITISH Army hero and former Man of the Year who is being held in Bolivia
charged with trying to smuggle a kilogram of cocaine out of the country
claims that the drug was planted in his luggage.

Darren Waterhouse, 31, from Weybridge, Surrey, a former Coldstream Guards
colour sergeant who holds the Military Cross, faces up to 20 years in
prison if he is found guilty.

The former soldier, who received the Military Cross in May 1995 for saving
the lives of fellow guardsmen in Bosnia, says he is the innocent victim of
smugglers.

Speaking by telephone from the topsecurity wing of the Palmazola prison at
Santa Cruz in the east of Bolivia, where he has been held for five months,
Mr Waterhouse said yesterday: "My luggage was left in the care of my hotel
for six hours before I was due to catch a flight. It was then that these
types went into action. They opened a case and switched my toilet bag for
another. The drugs were inside, hidden in tubes of shaving cream."

The cocaine, worth £30,000 on the street, was found by customs at Santa
Cruz airport as he was about to board a flight to Miami on the way back to
Britain.

"I am innocent. I knew nothing about these drugs. I was completely
stunned," Mr Waterhouse said. "I protested my innocence but I was arrested
and thrown into a cell. I spent 45 days in police custody then I was moved
to jail. That was in July. I've been held here ever since.

"The prosecutors have yet to say what sentence they want. But my lawyer has
told me they could ask for up to 20 years. I know I am innocent and I'm
sure I can persuade the court that is the case. I am determined not to lose
my spirit and to fight this all the way."

Last week, Mr Waterhouse attended the first of a series of hearings which
he has been warned could continue until February.

Mr Waterhouse won the Military Cross for returning fire until his men
reached safety after they were ambushed by Bosnian Serbs. He was later
hailed as Man of the Year by RADAR, the charity for the disabled, for his
work with them.

He said yesterday: "Since I came out of the Army I have done a number of
jobs employing the skills I learned in the Forces. I have been a bodyguard
for several people including Peter Hambro, I have been involved in
escorting gold out of Ghana, I have carried out private investigations and
I've even worked as a stuntman."

He said he had visited Bolivia on holiday in May. "I was very impressed
with the mountains and it occurred to me it would be the ideal place for a
sponsored climb to raise money for charity," he said.

He said he had just completed a feasibility study when he was arrested. "I
had planned to return with a group of semiexperienced people to stage a
highly publicised climb in the Andes to raise money from sponsorship," he
said.