An 18-year-old is in custody for attempting to smuggle 13 kilograms of cocaine, Vísir reports.
Keflavík Airport has seen a spate of drug smuggling arrests in recent weeks. Among the most notable was the recent seizure of 20,000 synthetic opioid pills. Two girls, aged 17 and 18, were arrested in connection to that case and remain in custody.
In total, 25 individuals are currently being held at the request of Suðurnes police, including 15 suspected of smuggling drugs through the airport. The detainees come from a wide range of nationalities, including Palestinian, Syrian, Spanish, Guinean, Lithuanian, Nigerian, Brazilian, Greek, Algerian, Polish, German, Slovak, French, and Latvian.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had this many people in custody at once under our jurisdiction,” said Úlfar Lúðvíksson, Chief of Suðurnes Police.
Most of the cases involve the smuggling of cocaine and cannabis.
“The other day, for example, we caught a young man — just 18 years old — with around 13 kilos of cocaine in a small travel suitcase. It’s something else to see a full carry-on bag packed with cocaine,” he said.
The young man was arrested last Thursday after arriving from France.
“It’s clear he was being used as a mule — most likely promised some kind of compensation for the trip. He’s probably been exploited by others who stood to make a substantial profit from that quantity of cocaine,” said Úlfar.
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