stunning model proved to be more than meets the eye after she was arrested by Italian police trying to smuggle more than £250,000 of cocaine into the country inside breast and buttock implants.

The 33-year-old woman, identified only by the initials MFM, was held by officers as she tried to distract them with her plunging neckline and tight-fitting outfit at Rome's Fiumicino airport.

But her plan backfired as they were so captivated by her looks they pulled her over for questioning and discovered the drugs when she failed to explain why she had been to South America.


Smuggler: A model was stopped at Rome's Fiumicino Airport and £250,000 of cocaine was found hidden in her fake breast and buttock implants (file pic)

The woman had flown to Rome from Sao Paolo in Brazil and a search by female officers revealed the fake breast and buttock implants she was wearing had also been used to hide 5.5lbs of cocaine.

Police said the class A drug was destined for the Italian market around Rome and the seizure came just days after £1million of cocaine was found hidden in the wheel arches of a truck that had arrived on a ferry from Spain.

Antonio Di Greco, police chief at Fiumicino airport, said: 'The route she arrived on is very well used by drugs traffickers and her looks immediately caught the attention of the officers on duty.

''She had tried to distract them with a plunging neckline and tight outfit but they stopped her for questioning because she was so alluring and her story about why she was in South America just fell apart.


Seized: The model wore a revealing outfit after getting off a flight from Sao Paolo, Brazil, but was stopped by officials when the drugs were found

'She actually became quite aggressive and was taken away for more detailed questioning by two female officers and that's when the drugs were found hidden in the plastic breast and buttock implants.

'The extremely pure cocaine crystals were found moulded into the implants that she was wearing.'

He added that last week 130lbs of cocaine had been seized at Fiumicino and ten people arrested as they tried to smuggle the drugs in hidden in various objects - including toilet rolls - or by swallowing packets.

Five years ago in a similar bust a 24-year-old model was arrested at Catania airport on the island of Sicily after it emerged she had swallowed 98 bags containing around 2lbs of cocaine.

The model held at Rome airport is now in custody accused of international drug trafficking.

Three South African women have been arrested for drug trafficking in the past week.

In Mozambique, police arrested a South African woman for carrying drugs when she entered the country at Maputo International Airport on Christmas Eve.

Promise Mpala, 26, had travelled from Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airways flight. She was allegedly carrying an unspecified amount of drugs in one of her bags.

The drugs were allegedly detected by the luggage scanner at arrivals. It has not yet been established what type of drug she was allegedly carrying.

A 38-year-old South African woman was arrested for drug trafficking in Nigeria last week.

Nene Fikile Happy-Girl, and a Nigerian, Onyemaechi Remigus Chibuzor, 29, were arrested last week at Lagos airport as they tried to board an Emirate flight to Malaysia.

They were allegedly found in possession of methamphetamine, Nigeria’s anti-drug agency said.

A young woman was arrested at Harare International Airport having come in on a flight from India, with 2kg of cocaine.

She is expected to appear in court in the Zimbabwe capital tomorrow.

Dreadlocks

She left Johannesburg for India on December 15, exactly two days after South African Nobanda Nolubabalo was arrested in Thailand when police allegedly discovered 1.5kg of cocaine in her fake dreadlocks.

The woman arrested in Harare allegedly had four passports in her possession and her friends spoke of her working as a mule for a South African drug lord who recruits mules in the Johannesburg suburbs of Rosettenville and Turffontein.

“The woman controlling the business is a South African who recruits the girls and rents passports from Zimbabweans who are desperate for cash,” a friend of the arrested woman said.

Felipe Cabrera Sarabia, known as The Engineer, allegedly ran operations for the Sinaloa drug cartel

Felipe Cabrera Sarabia, known as The Engineer, allegedly ran operations for the Sinaloa drug cartel, Mexico's most powerful, in the northern state of Durango and in part of the northern state of Chihuahua, said Chief Army spokesman General Ricardo Trevilla.

Cabrera, wearing a bulletproof vest, was paraded before the news media in what has become a common practice for law enforcement authorities after major arrests.

Experts and law-enforcement officials believe the reputed leader of the cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, has been hiding in the mountains of Durango. He has eluded authorities since his 2001 escape from prison and has a US$7 million ($9 million) bounty on his head.

Trevilla offered no information about the hunt for Guzman. He only said Cabrera's capture "will affect the structure and leadership of the Sinaloa cartel", and that forces also seized documents and computer equipment.

Cabrera will be held for at least 40 days on suspicion of participating in organised crime and drug trafficking.

British drug smuggler pardoned from life sentence in Philippines after 20 years in jail

 

A BRITISH thalidomide victim jailed for drug ­smuggling 20 years ago has been pardoned by the president of the ­Philippines. Billy Burton, born with shortened arms and twisted hands, got a life sentence after trying to take 12lb of cannabis out of the country. Benigno Aquino III’s decision came after a campaign for release on the grounds of Mr Burton’s poor health. Advertisement >> The 48-year-old, of Rufforth, North Yorks, will now return home and pay a £294 fine. He will never be allowed to return to the Philippines. Campaign leader Guy Tweedy said: "I've been campaigning for 20-odd months now. While we don't condone what he did, he's deteriorated as a Thalidomider and we had to get him out." Freddie Astbury, the president of Thalidomide UK, also welcomed the news. He said: "We were very concerned about his health because his health had deteriorated rapidly since being in prison. "Obviously, nobody supports why he was there but, at the end of the day, his health's deteriorated and he needs to be in a safe environment now and get all the help that he needs." Mr Astbury added: "The main thing is, get him back, get him treated and get him the health he deserves and as quickly as possible." Jago Russell, chief executive of Fair Trials International, said: "Thousands of people have spent this Christmas in jails all over the world, far from home. We are delighted that the Philippine government has shown compassion for Billy and that, for him, this ordeal is finally over." Mr Burton’s cousin, Angela Morris, said it was “the best present you could ask for”

Shannon Van Dusen, 35, Kingsford Heights, was arraigned Friday in La Porte on three Class A felony counts of dealing in heroin. Each count could bring her anywhere from a 20- to 50-year sentence

Shannon Van Dusen, 35, Kingsford Heights, was arraigned Friday in La Porte on three Class A felony counts of dealing in heroin. Each count could bring her anywhere from a 20- to 50-year sentence. Also, Michael Mikowski, 30, La Porte, made his initial appearance on Class A felony dealing heroin and Class B felony dealing cocaine.

According to court documents, Van Dusen was caught on three separate occasions selling heroin in October. In one of the alleged transactions, Van Dusen met a buyer in the 200 block of East Lincolnway. Van Dusen then walked across the street and met Mikowski to get heroin, which she then sold to the buyer, court documents revealed.

It’s alleged that Van Dusen also was involved in heroin deals at Jackson Street and Maple Avenue and the 700 block of Rose Street in La Porte.


According to prosecutors, all of the transactions occurred within 1,000 feet of Lincoln Elementary School and Kids Discovery child care center.

Van Dusen was being held in La Porte County Jail on $150,000 bond.

Under Indiana law, drug-dealing charges are elevated if they occur within 1,000 feet of a school or place where children congregate.

Mikowski on Oct. 4 is accused of riding up on a bicycle to a woman in the 700 block of Rose Street and providing her with heroin to sell to a buyer and taking part in a crack cocaine deal Oct. 6 at Linwood and State streets.

On Nov. 17, police said Mikowski became the focus of an investigation in response to complaints about “numerous drug sales,” according to court documents.

Mikowski began running when he spotted police, but was caught and allegedly found with crack cocaine on his possession.

Police said he then led officers to his residence in the 300 block of State Street, where Van Dusen and three other individuals were taken into custody.

Mikowski could face anywhere from a six- to 70-year sentence on the most recent charges. He already had Class B felony dealing cocaine and Class A misdemeanor resisting law-enforcement charges pending before the filing of the most recent counts.