Posted on 08/28/2002 5:40:06 AM PDT by Lorenb420
A 28-year-old American has become the butt of jokes by Pearson airport workers after she was busted trying to smuggle 2.2 kilos of cocaine, worth $275,000, in fake buttocks.
The Georgia woman was travelling with a one-year-old child in a stroller when arrested last Saturday night at Terminal 1, Canada Customs spokesman Mark Butler said yesterday.
The woman was detained for proceedings in Brampton court.
"We have never seen this sort of body packing before," Butler said. "We usually find drugs in fake legs or torsos."
He said the incident occurred as the family arrived from the Caribbean island of St. Maarten, where they were on holidays.
Undercover officers patrolling a Customs Hall detected something suspicious in the woman's behaviour and sent her for a secondary check, Butler said.
"Sometimes the body packers may walk funny or something just doesn't seem natural," he said.
Officers said the coke was found in compartments sewed into the buttocks of tights the woman was wearing.
HEADING FOR BORDER
"The drugs were inside her clothing in the buttocks area," Butler said.
"Sometimes people feel if they travel with children they will avoid Customs detection."
Police suspect the woman was travelling through Pearson to avoid stringent passenger checks in the U.S. following Sept. 11. She was slated to drive across the border.
Stacia Patricia Niles, 28, of Stone Mountain, Ga., has been charged with conspiracy to import narcotics into Canada.
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