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Message: British Couple Held in Venezuela on Cocaine Charge
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What the heck were they thinking, with four kids, and using a suitcases of all thing in Vz, are they clueless
Four children taken into care after parents allegedly packed suitcases with £1.2m worth of drugs
A British couple could lose custody of four young children and spend years in a Venezuelan jail after allegedly trying to smuggle three suitcases full of cocaine to Britain.
Paul and Laura Makin from Birkenhead, Merseyside, were arrested at the airport of Isla Margarita, a resort island off Venezuela's Caribbean coast, after allegedly packing 23.7kg (52lb) of the drug - worth an estimated £1.2m - into their luggage.
Their children, two-year-old twins and a boy and girl aged seven and eight, have been taken into care by Venezuelan social services and are expected to return to Britain later this week.
Narcotics officials from the national guard at Santiago Marino airport in Porlamar, Margarita's capital, intercepted the family on Monday as they prepared to board a charter flight to Gatwick. The six had been on a package holiday with tour firm First Choice.
After a brief court hearing the couple were remanded in custody on suspicion of drug trafficking. They are expected to reappear in court in several weeks to be formally charged.
Merseyside police said yesterday that Paul Makin, 31, had been due to attend Liverpool crown court on 9 February on charges of affray and possession of an offensive weapon. When he did not attend court a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. It is alleged he threatened a man with a machete in Prenton, on the Wirral, last September.
The couple are the parents of two-year-old twins. Laura, 31, has children aged seven and eight from a previous relationship. The father of the two is understood to be among relatives who have flown to Margarita to repatriate all four children.
Speaking from her home in Moreton, Merseyside, Paul Makin's mother Chris said: "I am in the dark. I am just interested in getting the children back in the country. The press seem to know a damn sight more than me. The Foreign Office are not speaking to me and the police are not speaking to me either.
"Regarding Paul and Laura, I know nothing about them. I'm really close to the kids - they spend weekends at my house."
His grandmother Margaret added: "I am just so shocked and this has shattered me. I knew he was going on holiday but the first I heard about this was when a relative rang this morning. I couldn't believe it. I have no idea what's going on and if it is a mistake."
She said the last thing she heard was that Paul and Laura were getting divorced and that was still the case.
Former neighbours of Laura Makin's in Birkenhead expressed surprise about her arrest. One said: "Laura always seemed nice and you'd see her with the kids. She lived there alone. I can't believe the Laura Makin in the news is the same one."
Another friend said Laura was a normal mother who would not take drugs.
She said: "Laura and Paul's relationship was stormy. They split up and she moved out of her old house in October and we thought it was a new start for her. This has shocked us all."
A British consular spokesman in Caracas said staff had traveled to Margarita and were keeping in close touch with the authorities and relatives and monitoring the children's welfare.
Venezuela is a hub for Colombian cocaine, which accounts for most of the 35 to 45 tonnes of the drug that enter Britain each year - an industry worth between £4bn and £6.6bn.
Most consignments cross the Atlantic in ships, but traffickers use human "mules" to smuggle smaller packages on to charter flights with the help of corrupt officials who are paid to turn a blind eye.
The US claims cocaine shipments via Venezuela have quadrupled in recent years because of lax law enforcement, a charge rejected by Caracas.
Last year, the US drugs tsar, John Walters, said Venezuela, along with Bolivia, was surpassing Colombia in the export of cocaine.
Margarita, Venezuela's biggest island, is a beach and shopping destination for European and north American tourists. Its direct flights to Europe have made it popular with drug couriers.
There are approximately 1,500 foreigners in Venezuelan jails, the vast majority caught trying to smuggle cocaine. The Makins bring to nine the number of Britons in Venezuelan jails, said a British consular spokesman.
Drug couriers typically receive eight-year sentences. Under a transfer program agreed in 2007 most British prisoners serve sentences in Britain.
Venezuela's jails are notorious for overcrowding, extortion, riots and beheadings. More than 400 prisoners are killed every year, according to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory watchdog group.
Paul and Laura Makin from Birkenhead, Merseyside, were arrested at the airport of Isla Margarita, a resort island off Venezuela's Caribbean coast, after allegedly packing 23.7kg (52lb) of the drug - worth an estimated £1.2m - into their luggage.
Their children, two-year-old twins and a boy and girl aged seven and eight, have been taken into care by Venezuelan social services and are expected to return to Britain later this week.
Narcotics officials from the national guard at Santiago Marino airport in Porlamar, Margarita's capital, intercepted the family on Monday as they prepared to board a charter flight to Gatwick. The six had been on a package holiday with tour firm First Choice.
After a brief court hearing the couple were remanded in custody on suspicion of drug trafficking. They are expected to reappear in court in several weeks to be formally charged.
Merseyside police said yesterday that Paul Makin, 31, had been due to attend Liverpool crown court on 9 February on charges of affray and possession of an offensive weapon. When he did not attend court a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. It is alleged he threatened a man with a machete in Prenton, on the Wirral, last September.
The couple are the parents of two-year-old twins. Laura, 31, has children aged seven and eight from a previous relationship. The father of the two is understood to be among relatives who have flown to Margarita to repatriate all four children.
Speaking from her home in Moreton, Merseyside, Paul Makin's mother Chris said: "I am in the dark. I am just interested in getting the children back in the country. The press seem to know a damn sight more than me. The Foreign Office are not speaking to me and the police are not speaking to me either.
"Regarding Paul and Laura, I know nothing about them. I'm really close to the kids - they spend weekends at my house."
His grandmother Margaret added: "I am just so shocked and this has shattered me. I knew he was going on holiday but the first I heard about this was when a relative rang this morning. I couldn't believe it. I have no idea what's going on and if it is a mistake."
She said the last thing she heard was that Paul and Laura were getting divorced and that was still the case.
Former neighbours of Laura Makin's in Birkenhead expressed surprise about her arrest. One said: "Laura always seemed nice and you'd see her with the kids. She lived there alone. I can't believe the Laura Makin in the news is the same one."
Another friend said Laura was a normal mother who would not take drugs.
She said: "Laura and Paul's relationship was stormy. They split up and she moved out of her old house in October and we thought it was a new start for her. This has shocked us all."
A British consular spokesman in Caracas said staff had traveled to Margarita and were keeping in close touch with the authorities and relatives and monitoring the children's welfare.
Venezuela is a hub for Colombian cocaine, which accounts for most of the 35 to 45 tonnes of the drug that enter Britain each year - an industry worth between £4bn and £6.6bn.
Most consignments cross the Atlantic in ships, but traffickers use human "mules" to smuggle smaller packages on to charter flights with the help of corrupt officials who are paid to turn a blind eye.
The US claims cocaine shipments via Venezuela have quadrupled in recent years because of lax law enforcement, a charge rejected by Caracas.
Last year, the US drugs tsar, John Walters, said Venezuela, along with Bolivia, was surpassing Colombia in the export of cocaine.
Margarita, Venezuela's biggest island, is a beach and shopping destination for European and north American tourists. Its direct flights to Europe have made it popular with drug couriers.
There are approximately 1,500 foreigners in Venezuelan jails, the vast majority caught trying to smuggle cocaine. The Makins bring to nine the number of Britons in Venezuelan jails, said a British consular spokesman.
Drug couriers typically receive eight-year sentences. Under a transfer program agreed in 2007 most British prisoners serve sentences in Britain.
Venezuela's jails are notorious for overcrowding, extortion, riots and beheadings. More than 400 prisoners are killed every year, according to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory watchdog group.
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© Guardian News & Media 2008 Published: 2/19/2009 |
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