Woman Charged Over £12k Cannabis Haul

A 52-year-old woman has been charged with trying to smuggle around four kilos of herbal cannabis worth £12,000 into the UK via Portsmouth ferry port.

Fiona MacBean-Hay, a British citizen who lives in Granada, Spain, arrived on a ferry from Bilbao at around 9.30am on Wednesday April the 11th.

She was arrested and charged with attempting to import a class B drug and appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on Thursday.

She was remanded in custody and is due to appear at the same court on Thursday 19th April.

Border Force officers found the class B drugs amongst food items in an estate car.

They also found £11,000 in cash which is now the subject of a formal seizure under the Proceeds of Crime Act to be considered by Southampton Magistrates Court.

Andy Lumb, of Border Force, said:

"As this detection shows, our officers are on constant alert, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to keep drugs, other smuggled goods and illegal persons out of the UK.

"Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to drug smuggling can call the smuggling hotline on 0800 59 5000."