Modou Adams, a British model and influencer, has been sentenced to seven years in a South American prison after being caught with £300,000 worth of cocaine. His biography explored.
British influencer-model Modou Adams is known for his growing Instagram account @boywholives where he had over 11K followers.
He often shared his jet-setting lifestyle on social media.
Late in September 2023, the model, 25, was caught with £300,000 worth of cocaine while trying to leave Lima, Peru, and has now been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Here’s what we know about who he is, why he was arrested, and how long he is serving his prison terms.
Who is Modou Adams?
Modou Adams is a rising 25-year-old British model, influencer, and social media personality.
The influencer showed off his luxurious lifestyle to his 11,200 Instagram followers before he was thrown behind bars.
The Londoner wowed his thousands of fans with his trendsetting looks and VIP travels under the moniker of “boywholives” in a show of excess
Photos on his Instagram show him in front of a luxury hotel in Greece, visiting Los Angeles, and at a stunning Spanish beach.
He filmed himself posing as a tourist in Cuzco, a favourite cocaine pick-up for drug mules and the city McCollum and Reid visited before their arrests – while posting selfies on the road to Andes Mountains Incan citadel Machu Picchu.
Just weeks before his arrest, the fashion trendsetter shared photos of him at London Fashion Week.
The last post on his social media accounts show the model posing by Machu Picchu in Peru.
One fan said: “You are living the travelling dream.”
Modou replied: “Life is a dream always.”
A fan more recently replied to Modou’s post and said: “Not anymore… I don’t think those South American prisons are the place to be.”
What did Modou Adams do?
Modou Adams was arrested for attempting to smuggle more than £300k worth of cocaine.
He was arrested on September 30 although confirmation of his incarceration only emerged overnight. Adams had jetted to Peru for the second time 11 days earlier following a first trip in February.
Peru’s Supreme Court confirmed the jail sentence in a statement where it referred to the Brit by his full name of Modou Dodou Adams.
Local Peruvian media reported that Modou had been working as a “donkey”, transporting cocaine between countries in exchange for a cut of the profit.
They also described him as a TikToker while displaying an unflattering photoshopped picture of him behind bars.
Revealing he had been jailed by a court in Lima’s Callao district , it said: “Tiktoker Modou Dodou Adams, 25, has been jailed for six years and eight months for having co-ordinated the dispatch of nearly three kilos of cocaine to London.
“The sentence was delivered in less than 24 hours after the accused man admitted the crime he had been charged with.”
Anti-drug prosecutor Lincoln Fuentes suggested he may have done the crime previously: “The first time he had already taken drugs, probably in the same way, because it was with a prepared suitcase.”
“In Peru a kilo of cocaine is around £3,000 but this amount multiplies in Europe by a massive amount.”
He added: “Each drug mule is paid £5,200 to £6,000 per drug run as well as getting all their expenses paid including the tourist trips they enjoy to camouflage their real reason for coming here.
“The objective this man had for coming here was solely to transport drugs back to Britain.”
Many Brits have been arrested while attempting to smuggle the drug out of Peru – in 2018, a man was caught trying to take 70lbs of the drug.
Sean Woods had attempted to take nearly £4.5million worth of cocaine out of Peru.
Two of the most notorious Brits known for smuggling are the “Peru Two”, who were jailed for drug smuggling in 2013.
Northern Irish national Michaella McCollum and Scot Melissa Reid were both 20 years old when they were arrested in August 2013 at Lima Airport.
They travelled to Peru on August 15 and were caught trying to leave the country with 11kg cocaine worth £1.5 million at Lima Airport just two days later.
They were caught by customs officers carrying the Class A drug ahead of a long-haul flight to Madrid, Spain.
It was later reported they were paid just £4,000 each to smuggle the drug.
Where is Modou Adams now?
Modou Adams was arrested and taken into police custody after he was caught with three kilos of the drug in his suitcase, according to Mail Online.
Adams confessed to being a drug trafficker and was told he now a hefty years behind bars.
In just 24 hours, he was sent to trial and sentenced to seven years in a Peruvian prison in a hellhole South American jail.
Unfortunately, he’d have to keep his clothes in his wardrobe and will be donning an orange jumpsuit.