Canadian Volleyball Player Jailed In The UK After Being Paid $300 To Smuggle Over $1M Worth Of Drugs

A professional Canadian volleyball player has been jailed in the UK after arriving at a London airport with $1 million worth of drugs.

Raekelle Powell, 22, was found carrying a suitcase jam-packed with reportedly 19 kilograms of vacuum sealed cannabis at Heathrow airport on a flight from Toronto.

Following her arrest, Powell confessed that she was paid only $300 to carry the suitcase which has an estimated street value of $1 million.

Powell quickly pleaded guilty in court and last week she was sentenced to 15 months in jail at Isleworth Crown Court in London.

U.K. authorities had detained 75 smugglers from Canada, up from 24 last year. Three others were arrested on the Saturday that Powell arrived, seven others the next day.

“These sentences should act as a stark warning to anybody thinking of smuggling cannabis into the U.K.–you will be arrested, prosecuted and put into prison,” said NCA senior investigating officer Piers Phillips in a statement.

“The gangs responsible for this trade have no concern for the fate of the couriers they employ to smuggle the drugs. All they care about is maximizing profit and making their criminal enterprises viable.”