Ghana Court Convicts UK Girls Of Cocaine Smuggling

11.21.07 -- 7:53 AM

By Reuters

Two British teenagers may face up to three years in jail after a Ghanaian court on Wednesday found them guilty of smuggling 6 kg (13 lbs) of cocaine.

The juvenile court postponed sentencing for Yasemin Vatansever and Yatunde Diya, both aged 16, until December 5, pending a social services report, British High Commission spokesman Gary Nicholls told reporters in the capital Accra.

Vatansever and Diya were arrested on July 2 at Accra's Kotoka airport when Ghanaian anti-drugs officers said they found cocaine worth 300,000 pounds ($600,000) in two laptop bags the girls were carrying as they boarded a flight to Britain.

The girls "looked devastated" at the ruling, one of their aunts present at the court said.

Defense lawyers will appeal the verdict, for which they could be sentenced to a maximum of three years in jail.

"Yasemin and Yatunde are two extremely vulnerable young girls whose naivety was ruthlessly exploited by the men who lured them to Ghana and left them to a terrible fate," said a statement from the parents of the two, read by a representative.

"Contrary to misleading reports, based on inaccurate leaks from the prosecuting authority, neither of the girls had any knowledge of drug-smuggling activities," the statement said.

"We are deeply disappointed."

The teenagers, who pleaded not guilty, had told British TV they were tricked into carrying the bags by male acquaintances in Ghana and Britain and did not know their content.

Police investigators said a Ghanaian man had promised the two 3,000 pounds ($6,000) each and a paid holiday if they delivered the cocaine to London.

The girls were met in Ghana by two other men who checked them into a hotel and gave a party for them before seeing them off, investigators said.

"While drug smuggling is clearly a problem which the Ghanaian authorities wish to prevent, our daughters are not the criminal masterminds which the prosecuting authorities have attempted to portray," the parents said.

The teenagers were arrested under Operation Westbridge, a project set up by Britain and Ghana to tackle drug smugglers using Accra airport as a gateway to Britain and Europe.

West Africa has become an important staging post for Colombian cocaine on its way to lucrative European markets.

Earlier this month, two Lithuanian youths living in London, aged 16 and 19, were arrested for trying to smuggle 3.5 kg (7.7 pounds) of cocaine from Accra airport to Britain.

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