A BRIT mum-of-two accused of trying to smuggle £1.6million of drugs into Mauritius inside her son’s suitcase has claimed she was coerced.
Natashia Artug, 35, allegedly stuffed 24 packages of cannabis weighing 14kg inside her six-year-old son’s wheelie case.
FacebookNatashia Artug has been arrested in Mauritius[/caption]
FacebookShe has been held along with her partner Florian Lisman[/caption]
defimedia.infoShannon Holness is pictured at court last month after allegedly being involved in the plot[/caption]
defimedia.infoShona Campbell arrives at court arrested as part of the alleged plot[/caption]
The mum from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was held along with seven other people accused of trying to smuggle a total of 161kg into the tropical island in the Indian Ocean.
The lad was picked up by customs officials when the group landed at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport last month.
The boy was initially held by Mauritian cops but has since been released and is now back in the UK with his father.
Natashia is said to be ‘vulnerable’ and claims she was coerced into travelling to Mauritius by drug traffickers who threatened her family.
Nonprofit group Justice Abroad said she did not know the bags contained cannabis.
She has launched a crowdfunder appealing for £5,000 to fight the serious charges.
Drug convictions in Mauritius can result in a mammoth 45-year jail sentence.
Natashia’s partner Florian Lisman, 38 from Romania, was also arrested and was said to be carrying 32 bags of drugs, an iPhone and £260 in his luggage.
The other Brits arrested included Laura Kappen, 28, a bar worker from Orton Goldhay, Cambs, Shannon Holness, 29, a caterer, from Bretton, Cambs, Shona Campbell, 33, a cleaner from Standground, Cambs, Lily Watson, a caterer from Peterborough, Cambs, and window fitter Patrick Wilsdon, 21, also from Peterborough.
Each suspect was travelling on the British Airways flight from Gatwick with an Apple AirTag which is used to track an item’s location.
Justice Abroad claim these were used by a trafficking gang to keep tabs on the group’s movements with the drugs shipment.
Authorities on Mauritius branded the use of a child in the audacious drug smuggling plot as “outrageous and inhumane”.
They added: “This is one of the most revolting cases we have encountered in recent years.”
The drugs cache was found during a joint operation by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Section (CANS) and the Anti-Drug & Smuggling Unit (ADSU) at the airport.
FacebookNatashia is said to be ‘vulnerable’ and claims she was coerced[/caption]
FacebookShannon Holness, a caterer, was arrested at the airport[/caption]
AlamyDrug convictions in Mauritius can result in a mammoth 45-year jail sentence[/caption]
Justice Abroad said Natashia suffers from fibromyalgia and is currently attending university.
They added: “This case raises serious concerns about the exploitation of a young mother by a criminal gang.
“She now faces criminal trial in Mauritius separated from her children and without the resources to mount an adequate defence and to put together the evidence of the duress and exploitation.”
Accused Patrick’s mother Carly Wilsdon previously said her son had just started work as a window fitter in Peterborough and had gone to Mauritius after being offered a “free holiday”.
It was only the second time he had been abroad in his life.
She said: “He was told it was a free holiday. He wouldn’t have known what he was doing because he wouldn’t get involved in drugs.
“The person who told them about this free holiday is one of his circle of friends but now he has disappeared.
“He told them that he had been before and that they would meet someone there. There was no mention of drugs.
“It is so hard. He could be looking at 30 years. He has never been in trouble and only been abroad once before.
“I missed a call from him on the day they arrived. I thought it was to show me the apartment. I can’t believe what’s happened.”
FacebookThe boy was initially held by Mauritian cops but has since been released[/caption]
Each suspect was travelling on the British Airways flight from Gatwick with an Apple AirTagFacebook
Speaking outside her home last month, a relative of Laura Kappen said: “She is not a bad kid. She’s never done anything wrong in her life but I guess she has done something foolish. Someone must have enticed them with money.”
A relative of Shona Campbell said: “It is really difficult. She’s got two little kids and they don’t know. It’s horrible.”
The shocking arrests come amid a spate of Brits accused of drug smuggling around the world.
Bella May Culley, 19, is battling to avoid a 20-year jail sentence while pregnant after being arrested in Georgia.
The 19-year-old from Billingham, County Durham, denies knowingly smuggling cannabis and hashish from Thailand.
She says she was coerced by a brutal trafficking gang who allegedly burned her with an iron and threatened her family with beheading.
Bella claims she was duped into transporting the drugs by the Thailand-based gang – but prosecutors argue CCTV footage shows her calmly passing through Bangkok airport’s gates without raising the alarm.
In Sri Lanka, Charlotte May Lee is behind bars after allegedly attempting to smuggle £1.2million worth of synthetic kush, a highly potent cannabis variant.
The 21-year-old former air stewardess from South London, denies the allegations but was reportedly caught with 46kg of the substance packed into her suitcases.
If convicted, she could be handed a 25-year prison sentence in a country known for its tough anti-drug stance.
And a British couple claiming to be holidaymakers were busted in Valencia, Spain, after allegedly arriving with 33kg of cannabis hidden in their bags.
Police said they were flagged for their “nervous and evasive attitude” and are now in jail facing serious trafficking charges.
Lee Adams, who went missing on Mauritius, was arrested on May 24 on suspicion of smuggling £110,000 worth of cannabis into the East African nation.
Lee, 40, from Yardley, Birmingham, was intercepted as he arrived at the airport and customs officers found 5.75 kilos of cannabis concealed in his suitcase.
According to local news reports Adams, who was confronted with the evidence during an interrogation, admitted his role and was arrested on the spot.
Investigators immediately launched a “controlled delivery” operation on the holiday island and two suspected accomplices, both believed to be British, were also arrested.
An investigation has been launched and the trio remain in custody.
A Foreign Office spokesperson told The Sun: “We are supporting a British national detained in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Spate of Brit drug arrests worldwide
A SLEW of drug mule cases invovling Brits have emerged in the last few weeks
In April-May, Two other Brit women were arrested abroad for alleged drug smuggling.
Glam tourist Bella Culley allegedly tried to smuggle a suitcase of weed into Georgia and was locked away in a brutal ex-Soviet prison despite claiming to be pregnant.
The 18-year-old was sent to the brutal Women’s Penitentiary No. 5 in the town of Rustavi – a slammer notorious for its hellish conditions just outside Tbilisi.
She had originally jetted to the Philippines to meet an old friend, but reportedly changed her plans last minute to go to Thailand with a gang of British lads unknown to her.
A sentence ranging from 20 years to life could be a possibility for teen Bella from County Durham, according to prosecutors.
Meanwhile, former air stewardess Charlotte May Lee was then caught allegedly trying to smuggle drugs worth £1.2million into Sri Lanka.
Her two suitcases were said to have been stuffed with 46kg of a synthetic cannabis strain known as kush — which is 25 times more potent than opioid fentanyl.
If found guilty, South Londoner Charlotte could face a 25-year sentence.
Meanwhile, a young mum is being detained in Germany for allegedly smuggling cannabis in her bags on a flight from Thailand – in yet another shocking case.
Glamorous Cameron Bradford, 21, from Knebworth, Herts, was detained at Munich Airport on April 21 as she tried to collect her luggage.
It comes as a Brit couple claiming to be tourists from Thailand have been busted with more than 33kg of cannabis in their suitcases at a Spanish airport.
The pair were picked out by suspicious cops at Valencia Airport after displaying a “nervous and evasive attitude” and are now behind bars on drug trafficking charges.
Experts told The Sun how wannabe Brit Insta stars are being lured by cruel gangs into carting drugs across the world.
Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
