A COUPLE ended up in prison in Germany after airport “staff” in Brazil put their luggage tags on suitcases full of drugs.
Kátyna Baía, 44, and Jeanne Paolini, 40, were arrested in Frankfurt on suspicion of international drug trafficking after cops found 43kg of cocaine in suitcases labelled with their names.
Jeanne Paollini (right) and Kátyna Baia (left) were jailed after having their suitcases swapped for luggage with drugsKatyna Baia
Katyna BaiaThe couple spent 38 days in a German prison[/caption]
SuppliedChilling CCTV shows the moment the airport ‘staff’ put the couple’s luggage tags on suitcases full of drugs[/caption]
SuppliedThe couple were arrested after cops found 43kg of cocaine in suitcases labelled with their names[/caption]
An investigation by Brazil cops revealed the couple were victims of an international gang swapping luggage at the São Paulo International Airport.
Chilling CCTV revealed an elaborate criminal operation led by two airport staff and two female “passengers” who dropped off bags full of drugs that weren’t checked in.
Footage showed the moment two airport staff removed the couple’s checked-in bags from the carousel before taking off the labels and putting them on the suitcases filled with drugs.
When Kátyna and Jeanne landed in Germany, they were arrested and wrongly jailed for 38 days on suspicion of drug trafficking.
They had planned a 20-day trip to Europe in March, flying from their hometown Goiânia, in Brazil, to Berlin, with connecting flights in São Paulo and Frankfurt.
But after landing in Germany, Jeanne was approached by a plain-clothed officer at baggage claim, who immediately took her in for questioning.
She recalled not thinking much of it as she thought it was a routine procedure at the airport.
But the Brazilian women were taken into custody and interrogated by cops in Frankfurt, and later taken to prison.
“This entire experience was an enormous shock for both of us and our families,” Jeanne told The Sun.
“I was taken to a windowless room, and as soon as I entered he asked me to put my hands on the wall and handcuffed me saying I was under arrest.
“I obviously started to ask why he was arresting me but I could only understand the word ‘cocaine’ as he was speaking German.”
The 40-year-old vet initially thought there must have been a misunderstanding as she was carrying flu medication in her bag.
But she soon realised it wasn’t a simple miscommunication as she handcuffed and escorted through Frankfurt Airport by police.
She was reunited with her partner, also under arrest, at a police station inside the airport.
“It took us at least four hours to finally understand what happened as they [police] had to call a translator in,” Jeanne said.
“It was at that moment that we learned about the 43kg of cocaine in the bags.
“We had our hands and feet cuffed and underwent the first of countless strip searches.
“It was one of the most humiliating experiences I’ve ever gone through.”
Officers then brought the suitcases in, which the couple said were “completely different in colour, shape and size”.
“I immediately noticed they weren’t ours, and showed them how the labels in those bags were different from the information printed on our luggage receipt,” Kátyna told The Sun.
“I showed them our hotel reservations, round-trip tickets, even our bookings to the German Parliament, our credit card receipts, to absolutely no avail.
We were guilty until proven innocent, and treated like convicted criminals from the start
Kátyna Baía
The couple spent 24 hours in prison before taken to a hearing, after which they were taken to a female prison in the outskirts of Frankfurt for 38 days.
“At night, I’d hear all those women crying, not knowing if Jeanne was one of them as we were in separate cells,” Kátyna said.
“We also lost count of how many times we went through strip searches, it was extremely humiliating.
“The other day I read a quote by Nelson Mandela that perfectly described what we went through. He said that no one knows a nation until they are behind bars.
“A nation should not be judged by how it treats its best citizens, but by how it treats its worst.”
The 44-year-old personal trainer said she was unable to properly take her medication for her chronic condition and recently-operated brain aneurysm.
“The guards dosed it whenever and however they wanted, completely ignoring medical instructions,” she said.
On April 11, Kátyna and Jeanne’s nightmare was finally over.
An investigation by the Brazilian Federal Police found the couple were victims of an international drug trafficking scam at the São Paulo International Airport.
Security footage revealed the elaborate criminal operation conducted by two third-party airport staff and two women pretending to be passengers themselves.
CCTV showed the moment two airport staff remove the couple’s already checked-in bags from the carousel and take a picture with their mobile phone.
One of them then removes the original labels from Kátyna and Jeanne’s bags and replaces them with other ones.
Meanwhile, two women arrive at the departures lounge with two suitcases filled with cocaine, and seem to be communicating with their mobile phone.
A member of staff from an unknown airline gives the two women a signal and checks their bags in without asking for any documents. The two women leave the airport shortly after.
The gang members are then seen getting the two suitcases with drugs and taking them to the same container where Kátyna and Jeanne’s luggage were.
The Federal Police confirmed the criminals found a blind spot behind a pillar, where they swapped the labels and replaced the luggage on the carousel.
Officers found the airline staff with approximately £7,000 in cash, who then confessed she took part in the criminal operation.
It is understood at least 21 people have been arrested so far and the Brazilian government launched a multimillion-dollar programme to ensure more security at the country’s airports.
That includes the ban on mobile phones in staff-only areas to prevent any sort of illicit communication and scamming.
Despite being back home, the couple said they are still unable to move on and go back to a normal lifestyle as investigations in Germany are still ongoing.
“What we lived in prison is still very much alive in our minds,” Kátyna said.
“I still haven’t been able to completely resume my life because this emotional, psychological and spiritual wound is still very exposed.”
Jeanne added: “When we think we are freeing ourselves from the trauma, we start to rekindle some flames that take us straight to that cell.
“I never took medication to sleep or for anxiety, but I had to because it was the only way to at least return to normality.
“Until then I had countless anxiety attacks and have only just gone back to the operation room and take care of my animals.
“We need these investigations in Germany to end once and for all so that we can start our lives again.”
Last week, Jeanne and Kátyna made their way to Patagonia, in their first trip abroad since their were imprisoned in Germany.
The couple said they either envelop their suitcases in plastic wrapping, or avoid to check any bags completely.
“We didn’t worry much about suitcases and how to lock them before what we went through,” they said.
“But we’re sure that if our suitcase had been protected, this wouldn’t have happened to us.
“So we would tell anyone who travels to be very safe, because it’s not just a suitcase there. We are taking our lives, our right of freedom.
“It’s so much more than just a suitcase. We could have lost twenty years of our lives behind bars.”
Another couple also fell victim to the same scam and were arrested in Turkey after authorities found cocaine in bags labelled with their names when travelling in October 2022.
Parents Ahmed Hasan and Malak Treki were sentenced on November 30 by the Turkish Criminal Court and now face up to 30 years in prison, potentially unable to watch their two kids grow up, Globo reports.
The couple’s defence lawyer, Dr Luna Provazio, claims the couple had their luggage tags changed by gangs and placed on luggage with large quantities of cocaine sent abroad.
Dr Provazio was in charge of Kátyna and Jeanne’s case, and is now fighting for the Libyan-Brazilian couple to be set free.
JN/NewsflashA member of staff changed the couple’s bag tags at the São Paulo International Airport[/caption]
JN/NewsflashCCTV showed the two women at the Brazilian airport with different bags from those seized by German police[/caption]
Katyna BaiaKátyna and Jeanne were on the way to a 20-day holiday across Europe[/caption]
NewsflashThe international drug gang operated from the São Paulo International Airport[/caption]