A British mum-of-two has been arrested in Mauritius after trying to smuggle drugs inside her six-year-old son’s suitcase.
Natashia Artug, 35, was arrested alongside seven others accused of carrying cannabis worth £1.6 million in their luggage on a British Airways flight from Gatwick to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam airport last month.
The child’s suitcase reportedly had 24 packages of drugs weighing 14kg, which Mauritian authorities described as ‘outrageous and inhumane’.
They added: ‘This is one of the most revolting cases we have encountered in recent years.’
Natshia’s partner Florian Lisman, 38, was also arrested and said to be carrying 32 drug packages according to local newspaper Le Mauricien.
Others arrested include Patrick Lee Wilsdon, 22, Lily Watson, 20, Shannon Ellen Josie Holness 29, Laura Amy Kappen 28, and Shona Campbell, 32, who each had between 30 to 31 packages.
They have all been charged with drug trafficking.
The boy has already been flown back to the UK and is staying with his dad.
But Natashia, from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, is ‘vulnerable’ and was coerced into smuggling the drugs by people who threatened her and her family, Justice Abroad has said.
They have launched a fundraiser to cover Natashia’s legal costs and bring her back to the UK.
They wrote: ‘Natashia is a single mother of two, who suffers from Fibromyalgia but who attends university and is working to give her children a better future.
‘She was coerced into travelling to Mauritius with her young son, and to carry the luggage which she did not know contained cannabis, by individuals involved in the drugs trade who took advantage of her vulnerability and made threats to cause serious violence to her and her family if she refused to obey their orders.
‘This case raises serious concerns about the exploitation of a young mother by a criminal gang.
‘She now faces criminal trial in Mauritius separated from her children and without the resources to mount an adequate defence and to put together the evidence of the duress and exploitation which resulted in her being involved in.’
The Foreign Office said: ‘We are supporting a British national detained in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities.’
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