The mum of a man who was arrested in Thailand after a packet of cocaine was found in his passport has warned that it can ‘happen to anyone’ as she claims her son was ‘set up.’
Jamie Louis Swain, 29, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, landed at Phuket International Airport with his brother in May last year but was pulled aside when an immigration officer noticed a small plastic bag with white powder while flicking through his passport to find a page to place the visa stamp.
Airport officers said Jamie reacted with surprise, and then started ‘swearing and shaking’ as authorities decided to conduct further inspections and scan his luggage.
Police tested the substance found in his passport and confirmed it was 0.42 grams of cocaine, which meant Jamie was promptly arrested.
Jamie’s mum Michaelle Swain, 57, has now explained to MailOnline how her son was definitely set up and how this sort of thing can happen to anyone in Thailand:
‘He went there with his brother, got through Heathrow, Dubai, and got to Thailand.
‘His brother got through with his passport and then Jamie gave his passport and they said a bag fell out his passport.
‘People say it’s because I’m his mum I don’t believe it, but to get through two airports and the fact it’s happened to other people, I just feel that it was a set up.
‘I can’t help that, I know I’m his mum, and I’m not silly I know they’re all doing this and it all goes on, I’m not naïve, I’ve got three boys.
‘But I just feel like to get through two airports and then suddenly this bag appears, and he’d had his passport out all that time, I just find it very strange.
Under Thailand’s strict Narcotics Act, the penalty for importing cocaine is a maximum jail term of 20 years to life in prison and a fine of 2,000,000 – 5,000,000 Baht (£43,000 to £108,000). Luckily for Jamie, after a court hearing he was deported back to the UK and ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 baht (£1,137). Not a bad result, all things considered.
His mum added:
‘It was less than a gram, it was ridiculous, but it was enough, as our solicitor said, to get money out of you.
‘As I say, I still think [it was set up], I can’t help it, because if that’s the case then obviously Heathrow and Dubai airports are not doing their job.
‘You get comments saying “oh how stupid”, but no, because it wasn’t in there. It must have been put in there.
‘I think this happens more than we know.
‘He’s not the only person it’s happened to, I know three people at least where it’s been exactly what happened to Jamie. It’s just too much of a coincidence.’
Well, all’s well that ends well eh? In the end, Jamie got away very lightly, even if he did have to spend a few nights living in awful conditions in a Thai prison. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of a foreign national getting caught with cocaine at a Thai airport and getting away with just a fine and deportation? Βut I suppose it was only 0.42 grams.
What I don’t get is why anyone at the airport would set Jamie up by slipping a small amount of cocaine into his passport? Is the guy at passport control getting a cut from the fine that Jamie has to pay the police? Expecting a bribe right there on the spot?
It could be that Jamie had left the baggy in there and completely forgot about it, and was maybe just lucky that it hadn’t been spotted at Heathrow or Dubai airport. Either way, I guess the moral of the story is – check your passport thoroughly and in full view of officials before handing it over. Happy travels!
For the 21-year-old British girl who says she has ‘no idea’ how £1,200,000 of kush ended up in her luggage at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka, click HERE.
