A British male model who flaunts his jet-set lifestyle on social media has been jailed for almost seven years in Peru after he was caught trying to fly out of the country with £300,000 worth of cocaine.
Londoner Modou Adams wowed his thousands of social media fans with his trendsetting looks and VIP world travels under the self-styled name ‘boywholives’ in a show of excess branded by authorities as a cover for his criminal activities.
His apparent world of glamor was in tatters today after he confessed to being a drug trafficker and was told he now faces the next six years and eight months in a hellish South American prison.
Adams, 25, was detained at Lima International Airport as he tried to check in for a flight to London via Paris with almost three kilos of cocaine in his suitcase.
He was sentenced in a speedy trial 24 hours after his arrest by the same police force that detained Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid, the so-called Peru Two, in August 2013.
Londoner Modou Adams wowed his thousands of social media fans with his trendsetting looks and VIP world travels
Adams, 25, was detained at Lima International Airport while trying to check in for a flight to London via Paris with nearly three kilos of cocaine in his suitcase
Adams was arrested on September 30, although confirmation of his incarceration only emerged overnight
Adams, a former marketing and public relations intern, is described online as an “experienced” model
His apparent world of glamor was in tatters today after he confessed to being a drug trafficker and was told he will now spend the next six years and eight months in a hellish South American prison.
Modou, a former marketing and public relations intern described online as an “experienced” model, made a very public show of his second ill-fated trip to the South American country on Tiktok and Instagram.
He filmed himself posing as a tourist in Cuco, a favorite cocaine pick-up location for drug mules and the town McCollum and Reid visited before their arrests, and posted selfies en route to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains.
The glamor shots prompted one of his 11,200 Instagram fans to say: ‘Wow Mo! You look great.’
Another said, “You’re living the dream,” prompting Adams to respond, “Life is always a dream.”
Peru’s Supreme Court upheld the prison sentence in a statement in which it referred to the Briton by his full name Modou Dodou Adams and described him as a Tiktoker next to an unflattering photoshopped photo of him behind bars.
It revealed that he had been jailed by a court in Lima’s Callao district, which specializes in punishing crimes in which offenders are arrested while committing an offense or immediately afterwards. It read: ‘Tiktoker Modou Dodou Adams, 25, has been jailed for six years and eight months after co-ordinating the shipment of almost three kilos of cocaine to London.
“The sentence was handed down within 24 hours of the suspect admitting to the crime he was accused of.”
He was arrested on September 30, although confirmation of his detention only emerged overnight.
Adams had flown to Peru for a second time 11 days earlier after an initial trip in February, where he documented his trip to Cusco before returning to Lima and checking into a hotel in the upscale Miraflores district along the Pacific coastline.
CCTV footage taken outside his hotel shows him wearing shorts and a black hoodie and carrying a suitcase into the building, which would later be seized by police who intercepted him as he tried to fly back to Europe. The images were taken on the day of his arrest.
The dramatic moment when he was taken into custody by two anti-drug officers as he checked in for his flight was also caught on cameras at Jorge Chavez International Airport.
One of the officers cut through a false bottom of the suitcase in which the cocaine was found with a knife and held it up as Adams looked on in shock.
The police then proceeded to search him.
Anti-drug prosecutor Lincoln Fuentes said: ‘It was not the first time this Briton came to Peru.
‘The first time he had also brought drugs out of the country, most likely in the same way with a specially prepared suitcase.
‘In Peru a kilo of cocaine costs around £3,000, but this quantity multiplies enormously in Europe.’
He added: ‘Each drug mule is paid £5,200 to £6,000 per drug run and has all his expenses paid, including the tourist trips he takes to camouflage the real reason for coming here.
‘This man’s purpose in coming here was solely to transport drugs to Britain.’
Adams lived a jet-setting life, judging by his social media profiles
Adams can be seen in this image looking out over London
Adams faces nearly seven years in prison
Authorities in Lima say Adams will serve his sentence in full in the South American country, meaning he faces a lengthy forced break from his ‘criminal front’ sideline
In a message to other Europeans tempted by the money offered by drug gangs to smuggle cocaine out of Peru, he warned: “Prison sentences are very high here and it is simply not worth the risk of endangering your freedom.”
Earlier this year, while dipping his toes in the sea at a trendy beach bar on the Athens Riviera, between Piraeus and Cape Sounion, Adams boasted: ‘Sun in my eyes, sand in my toes, sea within reach, anywhere else would I rather be? .’
In between his two trips to Peru, he took in the delights of Los Angeles, telling his jealous Instagram fans as he filmed himself at some of the must-see attractions: ‘You hate it but you wish you could do this used to be.’
Authorities in Lima say Adams will serve his sentence in full in the South American country, meaning he will face a lengthy forced break from his “criminal front” sideline.
The Peru Two, Michaella McCollum from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, and Melissa Reid from Lenzie, Scotland, were arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling at Jorge Chávez International Airport, Lima, Peru, on August 6, 2013, after their luggage was found to contain 11 kilos . of cocaine.
They initially claimed they had been coerced by an armed gang, but subsequently pleaded guilty. On December 17, 2013, the couple was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.
In early 2016, both women attempted to return to the United Kingdom.
McCollum applied for parole and was released on March 31, 2016, with the prospect of having to remain in Peru for up to six years.
In April 2016, Peruvian authorities agreed to deport Reid from the country.
She was released from prison on June 21 that year and immediately returned to Britain, arriving at Glasgow airport the next day.
McCollum returned to Europe two months later, arriving at Dublin Airport in Ireland on August 13, 2016. She later wrote a book about her experiences titled ‘You’ll Never See Daylight Again.’
In June last year, a British man, then locally named Russell Tamer, was arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle cocaine out of a Colombian airport strapped to his body.
Police detained him as he allegedly threw a packet of the drug into an airport toilet after spotting uniformed officers at a security airport.
The arrest took place at Simon Bolivar International Airport, the airport serving the city of Santa Marta in Colombia, the capital of the Magdalena department.
It was not immediately clear today whether he has already been processed by the court.