A 27-year-old British man attempting to board a plane in the Canary Islands has been detained by police after airport workers noticed a strange smell coming from his luggage.
A routine inspection of Lanzarote Airport’s Terminal 2, used for internal flights between the archipelago’s islands, by customs officials uncovered the smelly suitcase, which was oddly light for its size.
Officers of Spain’s Guardia Civil quickly tracked down the luggage’s owner, a Brit who was trying to travel to the islands’ main travel hub, Tenerife South Airport. Having seen it all before, customs officials decided to open the suitcase in front of the British national on the suspicion that he was attempting to transport illegal substances.
While packing your 100ml liquids into a bag is typically a good way to speed your way through security, inside this Brits luggage, they located four black vacuum-sealed bags, weighing a total of four kilos, that brought his journey to an abrupt end.
Unsurprisingly, inside the 27-year-old’s bags, they found a large number of trimmed cannabis buds with an estimated street value in the Canary Islands of around €7,260, or £6300.
The incident took place on Monday, June 29, with the Spanish authorities only releasing information about the arrest two weeks later on July 14. The man’s identity has not been released.
The Guardia Civil seized the British man as well as his large amount of cannabis, which is a Class B substance in the UK. This is not the case in Spain, where the drug has been legalised for recreational purposes, with individuals even able to grow a small crop for their own use.
However, distributing and selling cannabis remains illegal across the country. As a result, the Brit now faces public health offence charges and will be brought before the Court of Instruction in Arrecife for trial.