By James Orr30 July 2006 • 00:01 am
Mary Kofi (left) and cocaine hidden in a drinks carton
Mary Kofi flew in to London from Ghana on May 29 and later that day died in agony at a Surrey hospital. Inside her stomach were 61 inch-long packages of drugs.
Beyond this, no one knows much about her, though she is one of an increasing number of drug mules who risk their lives to bring cocaine to Britain from west Africa.
Mary Kofi (left) and cocaine hidden in a drinks carton
Since 2001, the number of Nigerian women imprisoned in Britain for drug-smuggling has risen from 10 to 80 and the number of Ghanaian women held in the UK has almost doubled, from 16 in 2000 to 30 in 2005.
Olga Heaven, of Hibiscus, a charity which helps foreign women jailed for drugs offences, said: "Women are often approached by gangs because they are easy targets.
"The temptation to import drugs from the Third World is due to poverty and desperation, and women are the ones who need the money to keep their family going.
"Some of these women have between five and 12 children. They have the responsibility for them but they don't realise what may happen if they get caught."
Or, indeed, if they don't get caught, and something even more serious happens. Police have yet to piece together the final movements of the woman they believe is called Mary Kofi, and who they think was in her 40s.
A post-mortem examination revealed that she was carrying 1½lbs of cocaine, worth about £55,000, in her stomach. Her death was probably caused by a package leaking.
"If these women were properly educated as to the consequences of drug trafficking they would think twice before taking the risk," said Miss Heaven. "If sent to prison, their family unit collapses. Their children have no money for school or food."
In March, Angela Quarcoo, a 40-year-old Ghanaian seamstress, was jailed for 15 years by Croydon Crown Court. She had arrived at Gatwick with 26lbs of cocaine, estimated to be worth £612,000, in her luggage.
In the same month, Temitope Ajoke Ogunji, 33, of Lagos, was jailed for 14 years by Chelmsford Crown Court. She flew into Stansted with nearly 18lbs of cocaine in her bag.
United Nations statistics show that Britain is the biggest cocaine market in Europe: 25 per cent of all European users live here.
Drug barons have long targeted Britain, with their most established trafficking routes being from Colombia via Jamaica to Europe. In 2004, Customs seized 18,972 lbs of cocaine, up from 16,358lbs seized in 2000.
But a recent Government operation which specifically targeted routes from Jamaica, has forced traffickers to find alternative methods.
"Traditionally, the bulk of cocaine was either moved from Colombia to Spain, and then on to Europe, or from Colombia to the Caribbean and then on to Europe," said Dr Thomas Pietschmann, a research officer at the UN's Office for Drugs and Crime.
"But as controls have improved to stop these routes, we've seen an increase in the importance of west Africa at the forefront of this.
"All European countries are reporting a significant increase in trafficking using packets of drugs which are concealed by swallowing. On some planes from west Africa, there will be 20 to 30 traffickers. Out of those, only one or two will be arrested.
"The criminal organisations involved couldn't care about losing a few people each time. Each person can carry around a pound or a little more and this adds up."
Dr Axel Klein, who worked for the UN drug-control programme in Nigeria for several years, revealed how drug gangs often sought out inexperienced and financially vulnerable women to act as mules.
"The result of these women being imprisoned in Britain is that their dependants are left to fend for themselves. Very large numbers of children are orphaned," he said.
