James Allen News Center

London, UK

Paul Makin and his ex-wife Laura were arrested at a Venezuelan island airport for smuggling fifty two pounds of cocaine – but Mr. Makin claims he thought he was smuggling diamonds, not drugs. The Makins, from Liverpool, UK, are currently being held at the San Antonio military jail on the Caribbean island of Margarita. Makin insists that Laura is innocent and that she knew nothing about the plan to smuggle diamonds.

Mr. Makin has confessed – sort of.  He says he was thought he was carrying diamonds, not drugs.  Mr. Makin – who was out on bail at the time of his trip, awaiting trial for reportedly attacking a man with a machete -- says that it all started when a friend suggested that he could earn some money by taking a trip to the Venezuelan island Margarita, which is a popular British holiday destination.  The friend put Makin in contact with young man from east London, who instructed Makin that he would travel to Margarita, buy diamonds, and return a week later. Mr. Makin decided to take his twin daughters with him, along with his ex-wife Ms. Makin and her two children from a previous relationship.

But midway through their holiday, the UK contact, who was staying in the same hotel, said that he had already collected the diamonds and would pack them for Mr. Makin.  Mr. Makin received three suitcases and was told that diamonds were stashed beneath the false bottoms. 

In an interview with The Times, Makin said that the contact told him "that we would be pulled out of the line, searched briefly to make it all look real, and then let go."  The contact gave Makin a mobile phone which he said he would call once the Makins arrived in the UK.  "He even showed me pictures of the guy who we were delivering to in the UK, all dripping in diamonds.  He said that he supplied lots of rappers back home, and said that I should ask him for a diamond once I got there.  But I was stitched up good and proper."

Currently, Mr. Makin faces an eight year sentence.  Ms. Makin plans to plead innocent, but if she`s found guilty, she could face a ten year sentence.  Ms. Makin`s other ex, the father of her two older children, is flying to Venezuela to pick up the four children, who will remain in his custody.