Tanisha Samuel, 20, and Shereen Mariah Hardy, 17, were detained after a random spot check at Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay, on Sunday.HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said the drugs, weighing about 2.3kg and valued at £170,000, were apparently found stitched into the hair pieces.A Jamaican police spokeswoman said the two women were charged with possession, dealing and attempting to export cocaine, and will appear at Montego Bay Resident Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
The pair were on holiday in Jamaica for two weeks before their arrest, and have allegedly told police they were to be paid £4,000 for smuggling the drugs into the UK, an HMRC spokeswoman said.The arrests came about through Operation Airbridge, a UK-Jamaican collaboration to catch drugs couriers - known as mules - before they board planes from Jamaica.Tony Walker, of the UK Border Agency and head of Operation Airbridge, said: "The Airbridge operation is delivering real results in this and other cases by helping to protect both countries from the violence and corruption that always accompanies the trade in illegal drugs."The number detected at UK airports from Jamaica has fallen from about 1,000 every year to five in 2007, the HMRC said.
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