Brit in US jail accused of smuggling £15m worth of cocaine says she was promised 'free holiday to Mexico'

28 November 2024, 17:34 | Updated: 28 November 2024, 20:00

A beautician from Middlesbrough is looking at up to 60 years in prison after trying to smuggling £15m worth of cocaine in return for a "free holiday to Mexico".

Kim Hall was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare airport back in August as she was about to board a connecting flight to Manchester.

The 28-year-old was detained after 43kg of cocaine was found in two suitcases she had been asked to bring back to the UK by two men she'd met on holiday.

Ms Hall said she had been promised a free holiday to Cancun by the two British men she previously met in Portugal.

They had asked her to take the bags containing $250,000 in cash for them as they had lost their passport, she claimed in an interview with This Morning from the safe house she is being held in ahead of her trial.

She stated the ordeal has been "the worst experience of my life".

'Seemed really legit'

She said she had "a lot going on at the time" and that she needed "a bit of breathing space".

She agreed to the holiday to Cancun and that the men paid for her flights.

"It was a breath of fresh air really to go there," she added.

When probed on why she went, Ms Hall said: "They just said that one of them had lost their passport and they were in trouble.

"They needed to get some money home to the family.

"It seemed really legit and straightforward [...] I was going to go as a holiday, take a break and just do them a favour by bringing back this money to give to a member of their family."

Once her holiday came to an end, Hall said the men "certainly didn't come across as being criminals" and that they asked her to give them her suitcase.

"We will send that back to the UK for you because you've got two suitcases to carry," she stated.

Hall says "things changed dramatically" with them as she missed her first flight and mixed up the timings.

She said: "I went from staying in a nice hotel, just enjoying the sun and having a nice holiday to being taken to a converted warehouse in the middle of Cancun which was surrounded by nothing."

'Nasty'

Hall says she didn't want to look inside of the suitcase as she didn't want to risk any of the money going missing.

"Once things had turned quite nasty with these guys I was thinking 'I'm not looking in them cases, there's no way.

"i just didn't want to make the situation worse.'"

When Ms Hall landed at Chicago's O'Hare airport, officials carried out a random bag check as they were skeptical of her two suitcases.

"I just looked at it and I thought 'What's that?'", adding she was "confused".

Once searched, the officers found the drugs all while Ms Hall broke down in tears and was taken to prison.

Since her arrest she has been on house arrest, only being allowed out with electric tags two days a week.

Ms Hall said she couldn't understand why she wasn't allowed to return to the UK until her trial.

"I've never been in trouble for the whole of my life.

"And I'm not guilty of what they're saying that I am."

When asked about sharing the names of the men involved she said "that's just not something that's possible" for the safety of herself and her family.

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Ms Hall's father John, 59, who also appeared in the interview, shared she had been diagnosed with Type 1 Bipolar.

In a previous interview Mr Hall said all his daughter was guilty of was "stupidity and naivety".

"She's not a drug smuggler. She was told that it would be money she was carrying.

"They got her phone and threatened her family and that's why she did it.

"She'd been to Portugal with a friend and met people over there who contacted her when she was back saying they were into real estate in Mexico and she could go for a free holiday" he said in an interview with the Sun.

Ms Hall's sentencing is in the top bracket, Class X Felony, due to the size of the drugs carried, charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and with intent to deliver and is looking at 15-60 years in prison.