A glamorous Scottish influencer jailed after smuggling £150,000 worth of cannabis through Edinburgh Airport is among Scotland's worst drug mules.
Ellie Crampsie's sentencing
Ellie Crampsie was sentenced to 16 months behind bars after being caught with more than 17kg of cannabis stuffed into a suitcase following a flight from Thailand. Crampsie was stopped by Border Force officers at Edinburgh Airport on April 16 last year after flying from Thailand via Paris. A search of her luggage uncovered 17 vacuum-sealed packages containing 17.7kg of cannabis, with a street value estimated at between £115,000 and £151,000.
She claimed she had been forced into carrying the drugs by a former boyfriend. At her sentencing, Sheriff Graeme Watson accepted there had been a “power imbalance” in the relationship and that Crampsie had been “naive and potentially taken advantage of”. But he described her conduct as “reckless” and said a custodial sentence was unavoidable.
Release on Home Detention Curfew
Just months after being locked up she was pictured at a music festival called Colourfest at the Braehead waterfront. The 23-year-old, who has built a social media following through her links to Glasgow's nightlife and events scene, posted pictures of herself at the event on Instagram – her first new post on the account since she was sentenced in April. She has also posted 25 videos on TikTok since August 9.
It is understood Crampsie remains under the care of the Scottish Prison Service but has been released on Home Detention Curfew, meaning she is required to wear a tag and comply with strict licence conditions.
Other cases of Scots as drug couriers
Her case is just one of a number of extraordinary incidents involving Scots accused of becoming drug couriers after travelling overseas. Chef Robin Wild was jailed for three years after attempting to smuggle £200,000 worth of cannabis into Scotland from Thailand. The 26-year-old was stopped by Border Force officers at Edinburgh Airport after arriving from Thailand via Doha on June 16. An x-ray of his suitcase showed what officers believed was organic material and a search uncovered 40 vacuum-sealed bags of cannabis, with a street value of around £200,000.
Wild initially claimed he had no idea what was inside the case. He told officers he had travelled alone to Thailand and met a Scottish man called Tom, who asked him to bring a suitcase back to Scotland. Wild claimed the first case had been seized by Thai authorities before he could fly home and said Tom subsequently gave him another suitcase and paid him £4,000. But the advocate depute told the court Wild did know what was inside the suitcase. Sentencing him at the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Cubie told Wild: “You knowingly tried to bring drugs to the UK purely for your selfish financial gain.”
In another case, Scottish teenager Lino Neil found himself facing a terrifying ordeal in Qatar after being accused of carrying cannabis. The champion angler, who had just turned 18, had travelled to Thailand for a holiday and was returning via Doha when he was intercepted at Hamad International Airport. His family claimed he had been forced into carrying the suitcase by a British man who threatened to harm him and his family. Lino's mum Nicola said the teenager spent Christmas in a cell with around 80 other men before being transferred to Qatar's Central Prison. She said her son was “totally distraught” and claimed he had been controlled by a British man who told him what to wear and eat. “He is just a teenage boy, a baby, and he has no contacts in Thailand and he’d have no way of setting up any kind of drug deal,” she said. The family said they believed he had been exploited by gangsters and hoped Qatari authorities would recognise he had been forced to carry the drugs. The case came amid warnings that young Brits were being targeted by criminal gangs offering luxury holidays in exchange for transporting “packages”.
In a separate case on the other side of the world, Scottish couple Demi McDaid and Jack Farrelly have been accused of becoming involved in a huge ketamine operation in Australia. Mum-of-two McDaid, 23, and Farrelly, 30, were arrested at a Sydney hotel on June 26 after police allegedly discovered 107kg of ketamine packed into a shared rental car. Officers also found a number of mobile phones, more than $2,000 in cash and documents alleged to be drug ledgers. A further 2kg of ketamine was allegedly uncovered during a raid at a unit in the Sydney suburb of Artarmon. The total haul is understood to have an estimated street value of AUD$11million – around £5.7million. NSW Police allege the pair travelled to Australia with the “sole purpose” of taking part in the distribution and supply of large commercial quantities of prohibited drugs. Both have been charged with two counts of supplying a prohibited drug and were refused bail when they appeared at Manly Local Court. They are due to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on August 25. Police said their investigation into anyone else who may have been involved was continuing.
