British girls 'knew they were coming to Ghana to smuggle drugs'

London (UK Independent) -- British officials in Ghana were yesterday trying to ensure the two British schoolgirls arrested trying to leave the country with ?300,000 of cocaine hidden in laptop bags are moved to "more appropriate" juvenile detention accommodation before their first court date on Wednesday.

Yasemin Vatansever and Yatunde Diya, from north London, were moved on Friday to the headquarters of the narcotics control board where they are sharing a cell. They face 10 years in prison if found guilty.

A senior narcotics officer who interrogated the girls following their arrest as they tried to board a flight to London described the moment they were caught. "They were carrying their luggage to the airport departure formalities when the operations saw they had a laptop bag," he told the BBC. "When they opened it, it was empty but when they lifted it, it was heavy. They cut it and saw there was a white substance. It was proved to be cocaine."

He added: "They knew what they were coming to do in Ghana. They were asked by a certain Ghanaian, by the name of Jay, to come to Ghana and pick up two laptop bags for a fee of ?3,000."

Campaign group Fair Trials Abroad has raised concerns about the girls' treatment. They were arrested on 2 July and questioned without lawyers present. They also say that as the girls are minors they should have been allowed to fly to London before being arrested. The group is now ensuring the girls have proper legal support.

The case highlights a new front in the so-called war on drugs. This has seen South America's drug lords doing multimillion-pound business with West Africa's military and political leaders. Routes for bringing cocaine into Britain and Europe have changed in the past few months with West Africa becoming the major transit point between Colombia and Europe. Up to 20 "mules", or drug couriers, a week are believed to be arriving in Britain from the region.

The British girls were stopped by Ghanaian Narcotic Control Board officers, who are part of Operation Westbridge, a project set up by HM Revenue and Customs and the Ghanaian authorities. An HMRC spokesman said: "Operation Westbridge has been going since November, and has already stopped ?10m worth of drugs heading to the UK and Europe. These girls are not the first British nationals to be arrested but they are the youngest."