Exactly Ernesto,

Perhaps Singapore with Michael Fay had the right idea?

Austin Tassletine, Bristol, UK

13lb? That's a hell of a lot of anything to be carrying and not be aware of it. Perhaps they work out...

The Kitchen Cynic, London,

Ernesto...because they lied..they didn't tell their parents !!

kirk, Rotherham, UK

Sorry to sound cold, but if these girls really did knowingly try to smuggle drugs, they deserve their punishment.

Autumn, London,

since we hand out british passports the way supermarkets handout samples, i am suprised there are not more 'British nationals' rotting in Foreign gaols.

here are 2 people this country can do without.Ghana please
keep these 2 law abiding British citizens when their sentance is done.

And before the PC crowd jump on me they are 16. old enough to know right from wrong.

Dave , Peterborough, uk

With regards to Joe'from London's comment its so sad to see such bigotry in this modern day, lets not focus on the fact that they're 2 unsupervised 16 year old girls travelling alone and smuggling cocaine in West Africa lets just focus on the fact that their parents aren't british. If their names were Susan and Kate would this scenario be more/less deplorable.

Andrea, London, England

Well said Pete St Albans. British according to their passports but that's where it ends.

Greg, Tampa,

Does this form part of the wonderful contribution immigrants have made to this country that the government love to crow about?

Mary, london, england

Its good to see that Ghana is willing and able to enforce their anti drug laws. If the same two girls had been caught over here, they would have immediately been given a battery of social workers, lawyers and God knows who else to speak up their behalf saying they are victims, not willing criminals after some easy money. Meanwhile their parents would have been on breakfast TV, blaming society, poor housing, bad schools, computer games and anything else they could think of to shift the onus away from themselves. The great British tax payer would then foot the bill for the trial, and then for the six months that they would spend in a juvenile country club to undergo psychological evaluation to find out why they would commit such crime. In the meantime they would have been signed up to book deals and given five figure advances, which would reinforce their ideals that crime really does pay. You couldn't make it up, could you?

Linda, London, UK

So they thought they were going to Ghana to get £3k for doing nothing. Get real, they need to face the full force of the law. Just that they thought under UK they would only risk getting a minimal sentence. We need to get tougher on drugs to stop this sort of thing

Andrew, England,

Apparently, they told their parents that they were on a school trip to Paris - it's not a case of their parents allowing them to go to Ghana unaccompanied. Unfortunately (as I remember from my own teenage years) some teenage girls can be very devious.

Jan, Leeds,

They should be thankful to not have been caught in Indonesia or any another Islamic nation. Furthermore, Imo, they and the country were chosen for this crime. Their mastermind new the law in Ghana and that if they were caught, their age would be considered for the sentence. Which would be minimal time.

Mohammed, London, UK

Why were two under-age girls were allowed to travel to Ghana? That is a very silly question! Do you not understand there are literally millions of under-aged unaccompanied children traveling internationally every year? (2.1 million in 2005) And what pray-tell does their "normally educated" status have to do with their ability to travel internationally? Or for that matter, many smugglers are highly educated! There is a huge pay-off for a young person to commit such a crime. INCREDIBLY Dim witted questions and/or comments.

Melba Toast, Ellsworth, WI, USA

As Pete suggests another contribution of immigrants to British society. No wonder the government keeps them coming. I bet the parents vote'new' labour.

Joe, London,

In reference to Pete from St Albans - I see little relevance in your comment. In this day and age, "traditional" British names are in any event evolving with changing culture, both popular culture and due to the multicultural nature of Britain. Even if the word traditional still bears any meaning, I find your insinuation offensive that it is their ethnicity that has led to them drug trafficking. Whilst real questions have to be asked as to how two 16 year old school girls ended up unsupervised in Africa, I do not see what race has to do with it.

Kate, London, UK

For the attention of Pete, St Albans, England what does their names have to do with them being or not being British??

Funke, London, United Kingdom

Yes, as my fellow Spaniard said, how come two under aged girls got to travel to Ghana alone? To do so, they necessarily had to have permission of their parents. But then, if these girls had had a normal education they would never had been tempted to traffic with cocaine.

Gabrielle, Barcelona,

Two good old traditional British names I see.

Pete, St Albans, England

Why two girls of 16 were allowed by their parents to travel to Ghana?

Ernesto, Salamanca,