The UK's Concerted Inter-agency Drugs Action (CIDA) estimates that some 35 to 45 tonnes of cocaine enter the country annually. It acknowledges that "the majority of cocaine destined for European markets crosses the Atlantic in large, often multi-tonne, shipments".

Nonetheless, a great deal of press coverage has focused on drug "mules". The majority are women, mostly driven by endemic poverty to risk smuggling cocaine through UK customs. The drugs are smuggled inside the body cavities, with each courier bringing up to 500 grams.

The large numbers of women making the mule run from Jamaica carrying Colombian cocaine sparked a diplomatic row, leading the UK and Jamaican governments to set up "Operation Airbridge" in June 2002. This project, involving the installation of UK-funded ion scanners at Jamaican airports, appears to have greatly reduced the amount of couriers arriving from Kingston; however, the flexible, demand-led market has reacted by opening alternative routes.

Hibiscus, a charity working with foreign women couriers in British prisons, tells us that the major mule run has now shifted to Trinidad and West Africa, especially Nigeria. A steep increase has been recorded in the numbers of Nigerian women imprisoned for these offences, with some women serving 12 year sentences.

Despite the tactical victory of Operation Airbridge, it is clear that underlying poverty continues to recruit couriers for the global trafficking organizations.