A young British man was sentenced by a Brussels court to 36 months in prison for drug trafficking.
The man tried to smuggle several kilograms of cannabis, claiming he did so to pay off a significant tax debt in the United Kingdom.
He was arrested on 27 March at Brussels Airport upon arriving from Bangkok after customs officers found a large amount of cannabis in his suitcase.
During his first interrogation, the man admitted to knowing he was transporting drugs. He had been promised €8,000 for the task, which he planned to use to settle his debt. All instructions for the trip were sent to him via Snapchat.
His defence sought a suspended sentence, arguing that he owns a comic book shop in London dealing in rare comics, which has been successful but led to the £8,000 tax debt. It was noted that this was his first offence, and he cooperated fully from the outset.
However, the court deemed the offence too serious for a suspended sentence and handed him an effective 36-month prison term.
