Customs officials find five kilos of drugs in UK pensioner's luggage
This is the moment Chilean customs officials sliced open a suitcase allegedly belonging to a 79-year-old British man and found five kilograms of methamphetamine stashed inside.
Dramatic footage shows agents at Santiago Airport calmly cutting into the pensioner's luggage and uncovering a secret compartment packed with illicit drugs. The man, who has not been named, had just landed from Cancun, Mexico, and was booked to fly on to Sydney, Australia, after an overnight stay in the Chilean capital.
Instead, the pensioner is now in Santiago's notorious Santiago 1 Prison after being charged with drug trafficking. Prosecutors say the meth haul had a potential street value of £200,000 in Chile, reports the Mirror.
Pablo Alonso, a prosecutor from the Fiscalia Occidente, confirmed the man was formally charged under Article 3 of Chile's anti-drug legislation.
'Detention control is being carried out in relation to a British citizen who brought five kilos of methamphetamine into the country,' Alonso told The Mirror. 'Preventive detention is being requested, and the court has accepted it based on the background information. A 120-day investigation period has been granted.'
The 79-year-old was intercepted after customs officers flagged his suitcase during routine airport screening. The bag was removed for inspection, where officers discovered a suspicious substance inside a hidden compartment. He was arrested on the spot.
Cops say the man claimed Mexican nationals handed him the bag at Cancun airport. Santiago Airport police chief Sergio Paredes said: 'This person came from Mexico and, when he was taken to the anti-narcotics squad's airport offices, he said the suitcase had been received by some Mexican nationals at Cancun.'
The Brit was taken before a judge, who approved the prosecution's request for pre-trial detention.
A formal trial date has yet to be set, but prosecutors are working to determine whether the meth was intended for distribution in Chile or Australia.
'If convicted, the man will likely be sent to San Miguel Prison,' a Chilean justice official told The Mirror. 'That facility is used for anyone found guilty of importing drugs beyond what is considered for personal use.'
San Miguel Prison is infamous for overcrowding and violent conditions. Designed to hold 900 inmates, it now houses over 2,000 men. In 2010, a fire sparked by a fight between inmates killed 81 people, drawing international condemnation and casting a harsh spotlight on Chile's prison system.
'Five kilograms of methamphetamine is far beyond what would qualify for a lesser sentence,' the official added. 'This kind of offence attracts up to 15 years in prison.'
The case adds to a growing list of Brits arrested overseas on drug charges. Just last week, a British couple aged 33 and 34 were arrested at Valencia airport after cops found 33 kilograms of cannabis in their bags. In Ghana, a 23-year-old British woman was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle 18 kilograms of cannabis onto a flight to Gatwick.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Bella May Culley, who was initially reported missing in Thailand, was found in custody in Georgia, allegedly busted with 14 kilograms of cannabis.
And in Sri Lanka, 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May from south London was arrested after 46 kilograms of synthetic cannabis were found inside her suitcase. She now faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
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