Teen With Drugs In Cake Boxes Charged As Adult
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A British teen found carrying 30 pounds of cocaine stuffed in boxes of cake mix at Miami International Airport will be charged as an adult, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Thursday the drugs Ayesha Niles carried had an estimated street value of $650,000.
"What it looks like is she had some of this set up for herself," Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office spokesman Ed Griffith. "I think she was aware of the potential profit that was waiting for her back in England. It's very sad, also, it's very tragic, I mean here you have a girl she turns 18 years old in the Dade County jail."
Niles turned 18 on October 24th in juvenile detention. She's charged with trafficking cocaine and importation of a controlled substance.
Federal customs agents selected her suitcase for "secondary screening."
Inside her suitcase, authorities say they found approximately 30 pounds of powder cocaine in cake mix boxes.
Her arrest report states Niles was headed from Kingston, Jamaica, back home to London when she was stopped at the Miami International Airport on October 21st.
Niles told authorities she "did not question" the suspicious activity she was involved with. She confirmed that the 24 cake boxes were the same ones placed in her luggage in Jamaica.
"That's why they call these people carrying it mules," Griffith said. "All they are are carrying the baggage and you know when we look at these things so sadly so often the pack animals are the one who bear the weight. I think the sad tragedy really is that you have a 17-year-old corrupted by the prospect of some cheap easy money."
Her guardian listed on the arrest form as Sherise Kitson, of London, declined to comment when reached by phone.
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