CHICAGO – A British woman who was allegedly caught with more than 40 kilos of cocaine in her luggage at O’Hare International Airport is “stupid,” but her father says she is not a drug smuggler.
John Hall told reporters in Britain that a pair of men promised his 28-year-old daughter Kim a free vacation in Cancun if she traveled home with two suitcases they had packed for her. They allegedly told Kim that each suitcase contained $250,000 in cash, but in reality it contained approximately $4.5 million worth of cocaine.
Homeland Security investigators intercepted her luggage and arrested Hall in August as she tried to catch a connecting flight to Manchester, England, court records show.
Hall’s father told a British newspaper that while on vacation in Portugal, his daughter met two men claiming to be Mexican real estate developers and that they offered her a free outing in exchange for her willingness to bring home two suitcases from Cancun.
“She’s never had any problems, nothing at all,” John Hall told the Sun. “She had a good upbringing and has always worked for her money. The only thing she is guilty of is being stupid and naive.” Kim Hall worked as a beautician before becoming involved in the scheme.
Court records show Judge William Fahy denied a prosecutor’s request to keep Hall in jail pending trial. However, Fahy ordered Hall to surrender her passport and undergo electronic surveillance. Electronic monitoring is only available to people with a residence in Cook County, and Hall wouldn’t be able to come home without her passport. She remains in jail as of Monday.
A grand jury returned a true account charging Hall with trafficking in a controlled substance and manufacturing and delivering cocaine.
