Two huge stashes of cocaine found on ex-Southampton cruise ship
Two women and a man could be jailed for life for smuggling cocaine worth millions into Australia on a cruise ship they’d boarded in Southampton.
Canadians Isabelle Lagace, 28, Melina Roberge, 22 and Andre Tamine, 63, were arrested after docking in Sydney on Sunday following the two-month voyage, said the BBC.
It’s not clear if Lagace and Roberge were travelling with Tamine, but all three suspects have been charged with importing a commercial quantify of cocaine.
The women had reportedly hidden 35kg of the drug, worth £17.5 million, in a suitcase in their cabin onboard the 1,800-passenger Sea Princess. Sniffer dogs found a further 60kg of cocaine in Tamine’s cabin.
Australian Border Force commander Tim Fitzgerald said this was the largest drug seizure Australia has ever made on a boat or plane.
Police are still investigating whether the three boarded the ship at Southampton with the drugs or if they got it from one of the South American ports the ship visited on its way to Australia.
All three are due to appear in court at the end of October
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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