Two Britons jailed in Morocco for drug crime

RABAT, Morocco (Reuter) A Moroccan court has sentenced two Britons to
four years in jail on drugs charges, the official Moroccan news agency MAP
said Wednesday.

The two men, Mark Waldron and Stephen Carr, both from the northern English
city of Leeds, were caught with 803 pounds of cannabis as they prepared to
leave Tangiers port in northern Morocco for Europe, MAP said.

In London, Foreign Office officials said the British consulate in Tangiers
understood the men had been sentenced to five years in jail. It was not
possible immediately to contact court officials to clarify the situation.

Waldron, 36, and Carr, 43, were arrested late Friday, a diplomatic source
said.

Moroccan officials said the cannabis was found in a specially constructed
hiding place in a Ford campervan belonging to the two men. Tangiers court
also fined each man $520 and ordered them to pay a state tobacco firm
$1,145, the MAP said.

Nearly 600 foreigners, mainly Europeans, are in jail in Morocco, 90 percent
of them for drug offenses. Morocco launched a crackdown on drug smuggling
last year and seized 103 tons of cannabis bound for Europe. It is now
considering increasing the maximum penalty for conviction on drug charges
to 30 years from 10 years.

^REUTER@