A mother stopped at Manchester Airport claimed she had been to get her teeth done - instead they found over 30 kilos of cannabis in her suitcase. Danielle Louise Fisher, 35, was on a flight back from Thailand, via Doha, on February 25 this year when she was pulled in for an interview with Border Force officers.
She confirmed she was travelling with two suitcases and said she had been in East Asian country for two weeks. "She said she had been there for two weeks and had her teeth done," prosecutor Sophie Kenny told Minshull Street Crown Court.
Officers intercept second suitcase
Fisher then became 'increasingly anxious' and started crying before asking to go to a private room within the terminal. Whilst asking a series of questions about what was in her suitcase, officers saw a man, later identified as Graham McIndoe, removing Fisher's second suitcase from the baggage carousel.
"Officers intercepted and challenged him, and it was confirmed that the suitcase belonged to the defendant," Ms Kenny said.
Officers searched the suitcases and found 40 vacuum sealed packages containing a total weight of 33.6kg of cannabis. The court heard the drugs were worth up to £100,000 or £3,000 per kilo.
Messages reveal organised enterprise
When spoken to by officers, McIndoe said he was going to Yorkshire, and that his partner had travelled out to Thailand and he was bringing the suitcase back for her. He also said that he was looking to move out to Thailand and that he had 12 children.
Investigations later revealed that McIndoe had travelled out to Thailand four times in the preceding four months, and Fisher had travelled three times. They were not said to be associated with one another, and did not fly out to Thailand together, Ms Kenny said.
McIndoe's phone was analysed and revealed messages suggesting he was involved in directing others, arranging flights, and sorting baggage allowances. Fisher's messages also showed that she was aware of the enterprise, with one message suggesting she would return to Thailand, reading: "Do you think we should give it another go lol."
Sentencing
For Fisher, Lewis Bocking said she was 'not at the top of the chain'. "There was a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity. She has expressed remorse and regret," he said. "Her only focus is to be a present mother. She has demonstrated insight into her offending." He added that Fisher has since undergone courses within prison, and had a low risk of reconviction.
For McIndoe, Abdus Salam urged the judge to sentence him as having a significant role in the chain, rather than a leading role. "His partner lives in Thailand, he had a legitimate reason for being there. Others were involved," he said. Mr Salam conceded that his client was experiencing 'financial difficulties' at the time.
Jailing them, Judge Joanne Woodward said: "You were acting together. Drug trafficking is a serious offence, in particular as it sustains the illegal drugs market." Of Fisher, the judge said she acted as a courier but she was 'far from an unyielding or unwilling participant'. "You demonstrated a keen and active engagement, rather than compliance," she added.
Fisher, of Carr House Road, Halifax, was jailed for two-and-a-half years. Of McIndoe, she said that he played a leading role and demonstrated 'direct and organised' the importation of drugs on a commercial basis. "You arranged and coordinated the flights, baggage allowances and gave instructions. Not the actions of a person carrying out instructions from others, but the actions of a person expressing management and control," she said. McIndoe, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 60 months (five years). A picture of McIndoes has not been issued by Greater Manchester Police.
