Tihaise Darlin Elisha, 19, and Taylor Tamara Simone, 21, have been sentenced to nine years behind bars in a Zimbabwean prison after being caught with 53 packets of cannabis in their suitcases
Two British drug mules have been locked up abroad after being caught carrying suitcases packed with cannabis.
Tihaise Darlin Elisha, 19, and Taylor Tamara Simone, 21, were swooped upon by police and charged with unlawful dealing in dangerous drugs after being found with 65.41kg of cannabis at Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe International Airport on May 1. Photographs taken afterwards by police showed them sullen-faced and posing with their luggage.
Today, they were each sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted of the offences at Harare Magistrates’ Court. They are set to serve six, after a judge suspended part of their sentence on condition of behaviour. It comes after a woman, 20, was found dead on bus with 26 iPhones glued to her body.
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Zimbabwe’s prosecution service said detectives singled out the pair as they left the Ethiopian Airways flight from Thailand after observing “suspicious behaviour”.
Four red and brown suitcases were then searched, and found to contain 53 packets of cannabis.
A National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson said: “The couple arriving aboard Ethiopian Airways Flight ET 873 were flagged by detectives from the CID Drugs and Narcotics after suspicious behaviour and intelligence led to a successful search of their four suitcases.
“The search uncovered a total of 53 packets of cannabis hidden in red and brown luggage, tagged names of the offenders.”
The statement added: “No matter your nationality, the law will catch up with you. Airports are not gateways for crime.”
A spokesperson from the Foreign Office told the Mirror: “We are supporting two British nationals who are detained in Zimbabwe and are in contact with the local authorities.”
It comes after three British drug mules who smuggled £300,000 worth of cocaine into Bali stuffed in packets of Angel Delight were given a last-minute reprieve.
Lisa Stocker, 39, her partner, Jon Collyer, 39, and accomplice Phineas Float were handed just a year in prison after fearing they could face execution under Indonesia’s strict anti-drugs laws. They are set to be deported at the end of their sentences.
A total of 992 grams of the Class A drug was found concealed across 10 sachets of Angel Delight in Collyer’s luggage, along with 7 similar sachets in his partner’s suitcase.
Stocker and Collyer, from East Sussex, had journeyed from England via Qatar and were detained following a standard X-ray bag inspection upon arrival in Bali on February 1. Police later arrested Phineas Ambrose Float, 31, after a controlled operation which saw the other two suspects hand the drugs to him at the Grand Mas Airport Hotel carpark in Denpasar.
The group managed to slip past Indonesian authorities twice before, but were caught on their third attempt, said Ponco Indriyo, the deputy director of the Bali Police Narcotics Unit.