British ‘drug mule’ arrested with £4.5m worth of cocaine in Peru

A British man has been arrested in Peru after police allegedly found £4.5million worth of cocaine in his suitcase. 

Sean Woods, from Liverpool, is refusing to speak to lawyers because he reportedly fears reprisal from South American drug cartels, it is reported. 

The 24-year-old could face up to 25 years in prison if he were found guilty of smuggling drugs, the Mirror reports.  

Pictures released by Peruvian police show him in handcuffs after police reportedly held him in a shopping mall, where they allegedly found a suitcase full of drugs.

Police officers found 31 brick-type packages containing cocaine hydrochloride inside a suitcase, Peru’s Ministerio Publico alleged in a Facebook post last month

Refusing to co-operate, he apparently said: ‘I don’t know what’s in it. He said to meet here at 1 o clock, I don’t know phones. I just wait here.’ 

Police officers found 31 brick-type packages containing cocaine hydrochloride inside a suitcase, Peru’s Ministerio Publico alleged in a Facebook post last month.

In the Facebook post, investigators described Mr Woods as being ‘caught red-handed’, as they said each of the 31 packages, found in his blue suitcase, were marked with the letter R. 

The Peruvian authorities claimed at the time that Mr Woods was set to secretly transport the ‘illicit’ packages as part of a drug-mule arrangement.

In 2013, Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid were caught trying to smuggle 24lb (11kg) of cocaine worth £1.5million out of Peru.

The pair were jailed for six years and eight months after admitting the crime but were freed in 2016 after striking a deal with Peruvian authorities.