Source: Daily Telegraph (UK) Contact: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 Army hero claims smugglers planted drug in his bags By Tim Brown in Madrid A BRITISH Army hero and former Man of the Year who is being held in Bolivia charged with trying to smuggle a kilogram of cocaine out of the country claims that the drug was planted in his luggage. Darren Waterhouse, 31, from Weybridge, Surrey, a former Coldstream Guards colour sergeant who holds the Military Cross, faces up to 20 years in prison if he is found guilty. The former soldier, who received the Military Cross in May 1995 for saving the lives of fellow guardsmen in Bosnia, says he is the innocent victim of smugglers. Speaking by telephone from the topsecurity wing of the Palmazola prison at Santa Cruz in the east of Bolivia, where he has been held for five months, Mr Waterhouse said yesterday: "My luggage was left in the care of my hotel for six hours before I was due to catch a flight. It was then that these types went into action. They opened a case and switched my toilet bag for another. The drugs were inside, hidden in tubes of shaving cream." The cocaine, worth £30,000 on the street, was found by customs at Santa Cruz airport as he was about to board a flight to Miami on the way back to Britain. "I am innocent. I knew nothing about these drugs. I was completely stunned," Mr Waterhouse said. "I protested my innocence but I was arrested and thrown into a cell. I spent 45 days in police custody then I was moved to jail. That was in July. I've been held here ever since. "The prosecutors have yet to say what sentence they want. But my lawyer has told me they could ask for up to 20 years. I know I am innocent and I'm sure I can persuade the court that is the case. I am determined not to lose my spirit and to fight this all the way." Last week, Mr Waterhouse attended the first of a series of hearings which he has been warned could continue until February. Mr Waterhouse won the Military Cross for returning fire until his men reached safety after they were ambushed by Bosnian Serbs. He was later hailed as Man of the Year by RADAR, the charity for the disabled, for his work with them. He said yesterday: "Since I came out of the Army I have done a number of jobs employing the skills I learned in the Forces. I have been a bodyguard for several people including Peter Hambro, I have been involved in escorting gold out of Ghana, I have carried out private investigations and I've even worked as a stuntman." He said he had visited Bolivia on holiday in May. "I was very impressed with the mountains and it occurred to me it would be the ideal place for a sponsored climb to raise money for charity," he said. He said he had just completed a feasibility study when he was arrested. "I had planned to return with a group of semiexperienced people to stage a highly publicised climb in the Andes to raise money from sponsorship," he said.