Two drug mules caught attempting to smuggle over 35kg of cannabis into the UK have warned that traffickers are targeting women whose glamorous social media profiles conceal how their globe-trotting lifestyle is beyond their means.
In their first account of what happened, Levi-April Whalley, now 31, and Sophie Bannister, 30, admitted making a ‘stupid’ decision – but blamed their downfall on being ‘groomed’ by international criminals.
And after walking free from court with suspended sentences they told the Daily Mail that while it might appear they escaped ‘scot-free’, their lives had been ‘ruined’.
Shamed ex-nurse Whalley – who now faces being struck off – and her boarding school educated friend continue to insist they thought the cases contained watches.
But they admit that they felt ‘panicky’ about what might really be inside as they flew home – saying they were in ‘far too deep to turn around’.
The pair were arrested on arrival at Birmingham International Airport following a three-day pre-Christmas shopping trip to New York in 2023 when the incriminating packages were found in their luggage.
The ‘true friends’ sobbed and held hands in the dock this week as a judge imposed suspended prison sentences after being told neither of them had been in trouble since then.
The pair – both originally from Blackburn, Lancashire – have nearly 60,000 followers on Instagram, and until their arrest regularly posted about enjoying beach holidays around the world.
Sophie Bannister (pictured) and Levi-April Whalley, both 30 from Blackburn, told border officials they had been on a three-day shopping spree in the Big Apple
Text messages between Bannister (pictured) and Whalley later revealed that the pair had become involved in a lucrative plot to import cannabis into the UK
The drugs in Bannister’s suitcase had an estimated street value of £40,500 and Whalley’s were estimated at £121,500
A woman whom Bannister had met in Marbella contacted her over Instagram offering them £2,000 each to bring what they thought were watches and jewellery back from New York, they allege.
Whalley told the Mail the offer was ‘you can go on holiday for free and go shopping, and then at the end of it you brought some suitcases back, but you didn’t have to think about it until the day that you actually came back’.
‘It’s something I’ve always wanted, to go to New York, since I was a little girl. I thought “Oh, let’s do it”, but not thinking about the actual consequences.’
As a result, they ‘very stupidly’ agreed.
Whalley – who has since had a baby – said they were told to ‘go and enjoy your holiday’ and that at the end of it they would have to bring the watches back with them.
However after being handed her case and checking onto their flight to Birmingham via Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport on December 9, 2023, Bannister said they felt ‘a bit anxious’.
‘I wasn’t 100 per cent what was in it to be honest,’ she said.
‘I just started to get a bit panicky.’
The pair – both originally from Blackburn, Lancashire – have nearly 60,000 followers on Instagram , and until their arrest regularly posted about enjoying beach holidays around the world. Pictured: Sophie Bannister
Since their arrest, neither has committed any other offences and Whalley (pictured) has become a mother to a young baby, the court heard
Officers found 34 sealed packages of cannabis in Bannister’s case and a further 39 packages in Whalley’s luggage
Whalley said it was only at the end of the break that ‘reality hit’ – but claimed they felt they had no choice but to smuggle the cases due to being ‘threatened’.
‘We had an absolutely amazing time in New York.
‘Then on the last day when we had to get these cases back it was like, “S***, what are we actually doing?”
‘But we felt like we were already in far too deep to turn around at that point.’
They were stopped by Customs officers after picking up the locked cases – for which they didn’t have keys – from the carousel at Birmingham airport.
‘He asked us if we’d packed our cases ourselves,’ said Bannister.
‘Levi said “Yes” at first, but when he asked us to open it we said “No.”
‘And then when he opened it, we found what was inside.’
Bannister is pictured at a hotel in Ibiza, Spain in August 2023
Whally, a former nurse, is pictured on a boat in Thailand in 2023
Whalley is pictured on a trip to New York City in 2023 before she was caught with the drugs
Bannister’s case was packed with 34 heat sealed packages containing 16.5kg of cannabis with an estimated street value of £40,500, Preston Crown Court heard this week.
A further 39 packages containing 19kg of cannabis were in Whalley’s case worth an estimated £121,500.
Continuing to insist she had no idea of the contents, Bannister told the Mail she was ‘absolutely heartbroken and gobsmacked’.
‘We thought that’s it, our lives are over.’The friends spent more than 24 hours in police custody – during which time Bannister said she was hospitalised due to a severe panic attack – before being released on bail.
Both insist they were ‘groomed’ as a result of their social media profiles – and argue they were vulnerable to exploitation due to coming out of difficult relationships and – in Bannister’s case – debt.
Whalley told the Mail that at the time she had wanted to ‘escape myself’.
‘I thought “Yeah, why not”, not really thinking much about the consequences.’
Whalley believes traffickers target women like her on social media leading a ‘certain lifestyle’, sucking them in with the offer of a ‘free holiday’.
‘They approach the type of vulnerable people because even though they might have so many followers on Instagram they’re not as confident as they may seem.
‘They’ve obviously seen that we were travelling a lot.’
She insists that her reaction to the offer today as a mother-of-one would have been ‘absolutely not’.
‘So it just it proves that that we had some vulnerability, that we took that risk and opportunity.’
Whalley lost her job as an adult nurse after informing her employer of her arrest.
She now faces being struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council – she is currently under an interim suspension.
Whalley is now juggling running a beauty business with being a single mother.
Whalley (pictured) believes traffickers target women like her on social media leading a ‘certain lifestyle’, sucking them in with the offer of a ‘free holiday’
Bannister – who attended £15,000-a-year Kirkham Grammar School – used to run a clothing brand in Dubai but is now living with friends in Manchester following her arrest.
‘It’s caused a lot of upset and hurt,’ she said.
‘My family all fell out with me. It’s not been easy.’
The pair have been bombarded with ‘harsh’ messages about their crimes since their sentencing this week.
‘We’re being treated as if we’ve murdered someone,’ said Whalley, whose mother died last week.
‘It’s disgusting, I’ve got a baby here and I’m being trolled.
‘What I really don’t like is people saying I’ve had a baby to avoid me going to jail. That simply wasn’t the case.
‘I’m ashamed for my family, I’ve got to live with that for the rest of my life.
‘But the things that people are saying, that doesn’t go away either. We’ve made a mistake and we’re really sorry for that.
‘And you’re paying for it, not just in the terms of the suspended sentence.
‘Everything is different now and I do I look back and I think I wish I didn’t do that.
‘At the end of the day we chose that path and we’ve got to pay the price.’
‘We’ve both said we’re ashamed,’ Bannister added.
‘I wish we’d made better decisions, to be honest.’
Bannister is pictured posing with a Starbucks cup in the iconic Times Square in New York
Bannister (pictured) – who attended £15,000-a-year Kirkham Grammar School – used to run a clothing brand in Dubai but is now living with friends in Manchester following her arrest.
And while their Instagram feeds continue to be packed with images of partying and nights out, both insist that doesn’t mean they have no regrets.
‘Just because you’re smiling on a picture it can hold a lot of pain,’ said Whalley.
‘A smile can hide 1,000 tears.
‘Just because we’ve posted on Instagram ever since doesn’t mean we’re ok, we’re still trying to rebuild our lives.’
The suspended sentences imposed on both friends by the judge have sparked outrage – the maximum penalty for cannabis importation to the UK is 14 years in prison.
Both women said they attended court with bags packed in preparation for potentially being jailed.
‘We were mentally already prepared for the worst,’ said Whalley.
‘I had childcare for my daughter, things in place – I haven’t gone in there thinking I’m going to get off with this.’
Whalley said her life had been ‘ruined’ by their mistake.
‘I had an amazing career in the NHS and I’m paying ultimately the price for that. So that’s the biggest cost.
‘I don’t think we should get away with it scot-free at all and I understand it looks like we sort of have.
‘But we’ve lived with this for 15 months.
‘I’ve had to turn my life around since. It’s not been easy. I’ve trained all my life to be a nurse.
‘Just because we’ve not got prison, it doesn’t mean it’s not scarred us.’
Both women pleaded guilty to fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a class B drug.
On Wednesday at Preston Crown Court Judge Richard Archer gave Whalley a 16-month sentence suspended for 18 months, with 10 days rehabilitation and 80 hours of unpaid work.
Bannister was sentenced to 20 months suspended for 18 months with 30 days rehabilitation activities and 200 hours of unpaid work.
