2 UK women hide ￡16,500 in underwear for Syrian fighters

By Cho Hyun-eui

Two British women are accused of trying to smuggle £16,500 to fund extremists fighting in Syria.

Nawal Msaad, 26, was arrested on Jan.16 at Heathrow Airport as she prepared to board a flight to Turkey. She had a large quantity of cash in her underwear.

Amal Elwahabi, 27, was also arrested the same day in northwest London, the Telegraph reported. They are the first British women to be charged with offences related to the conflict.

Police said that both British women have been charged with arranging funds that might be used for the purposes of terrorism, specifically terrorist activities in Syria.

According to the Counter Terrorism Command, the number of Syria-related terror arrests had increased dramatically, with 14 in the first three weeks of this year which is more than half the total for the whole of 2013.