Two young ladies from Birmingham have been caught with over £160,000 worth of cannabis in their suitcases as they landed back in the UK following a trip to New York.

Sophie Bannister and Levi-April Whalley, both 30, told border officials they had been on a three-day shopping spree in the Big Apple.

A search of their luggage at Birmingham International Airport uncovered 35kg of marijuana, with text messages between them further revealing they’d been working as drug mules to import cannabis into the UK.

This is Levi:

And the lovely Sophie:

Twins, surely?

Initially both women told officials they had packed their suitcases themselves and were fully aware that it was illegal to bring drugs into the UK, but when their bags when checked, officers found 34 sealed packages of cannabis in Sophie’s case and a further 39 packages in Levi’s luggage.

The girls then acted completely dumbfounded and claimed they thought the packages contained watches. Um, yeah right…

In the end, both women pleaded guilty to fraudulent evasion of a prohibition and appeared at Preston Crown Court today (April 3) to be sentenced.

Judge Richard Archer, sentencing, said:

‘You were both aware that having travelled from New York to Birmingham via Paris that you had in your respective suitcases a significant quantity of heat sealed bags, containing 35.5kg of cannabis.

‘This was not your cannabis but cannabis you were carrying on behalf of another but you were expecting significant financial advantage for doing what you did.’

I mean, all that Botox and face filler isn’t going to pay for itself, is it? The judge continued:

‘You discussed it in relation to this particular trip to New York, with a clear view of the money you were going to make from behaving this way.

‘You perhaps had little regard to the seriousness or consequences of your offending. It must have been in the back of your mind that you would be caught but you probably thought very little about sitting in the dock this afternoon.

‘I very much hope that you don’t involve yourselves in this behaviour again.’

Of course, this being the UK, both girls were able to avoid going to jail. Sophie was given 20 months in prison, suspended for 18 months with 30 days of rehabilitation activities and 200 hours of unpaid work, and Levi was given a 16-month sentence suspended for 18 months, with 10 days rehabilitation and 80 hours of unpaid work.

As long as they stay trouble-free for the duration and complete their court-ordered activities and unpaid work, they’ll have got away with it. Just imagine – over in Malaysia or Singapore or the Philippines, they’d have got life sentences or the death penalty for smuggling that amount of drugs. A good day to be British for these two eh?

To meet the man who was arrested after trying to take 22lbs of crystal meth onto a plane in his carry-on luggage, click HERE. What was he thinking?