18/07/2007

British girls in Ghana court on drug smuggling charges

Two British girls have appeared in court in Ghana to face charges of attempting to smuggle cocaine out of the country.

Yasemin Vatansever and Yatunde Diya, both aged 16, were arrested two weeks ago as they attempted to board a British Airways flight to London from Accra.

The pair were allegedly carrying drugs worth £300,000.

Both girls have denied the charges of possessing and attempting to smuggle drugs into the UK, claiming that they were unaware that the drugs were in their luggage and had been tricked into carrying them.

The girls reportedly told their parents they were going on a school trip to France, but instead flew into Ghana on June 26 for a week's stay, apparently paid for by a Ghanaian man they met in London called J.

The girls told reporters that they were asked to bring two laptop bags back with them and that they were looked after in Accra by two Ghanaian men during their stay.

The girls will enter formal pleas when their trial begins on July 26. If convicted, the pair face ten years in jail in Ghana.

(KMcA)

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