The number of Jamaican women attempting to take illegal drugs into the United Kingdom has been cut, but British officials warned that drug dealers are now targeting women from Trinidad and Tobago. In 2002, there were 442 Jamaican women in UK jails serving time for bringing illegal drugs in to the country. That number has now fallen to 136 following policy changes regarding the early release of foreign prisoners and Operation Airbridge, a joint UK and Jamaican scheme that saw people-scanners installed at airports in Jamaica. While this represents a major breakthrough in the fight against drugs, UK officials noted there's been a steep increase in the number of drug mules coming from Trinidad and Tobago. Customs officials told the BBC the number Jamaicans trying to smuggle drugs to the UK by swallowing them had reduced by over 90 percent. Steep rise Figures show that in 2003, 16 of the 20 Trinidadian women held in UK jails were drug mcarriers or drug "mules". Last year, that figure jumped to 27 out of a total of 34 Trinidadian women in jail. Olga Heaven, director of UK-based foreign support charity Hibiscus said drug dealers are trying to keep one step ahead of the officials, that's why they're now targeting Trinidadian women. She said the dealers were looking at countries where there were poor women who were desperate for money. "Women with children get caught up in a situation where they begin to borrow money for schooling, or for paying rent, and they are not employable because of lack of training. "They don't have another way out of their situation, carrying drugs is their last resort." Hibiscus is working with the National Drug Council in Trinidad on a national education campaign about the dangers of drug trafficking. The campaign will be launched later this month in Port of Spain and will use comic books, posters and a television animation feature. The animation which is also running in Jamaica is called Eva Goes to Foreign. It's a cautionary tale of Eva - a woman with young children who is duped and bribed into carrying drugs and then gets caught on arrival in Britain. Drug Council officials acknowledged there was a growing problem in Trinidad and told BBC Caribbean Radio that several government ministries as well as NGOs will be taking the campaign to a wide cross section of women across the nation. UK officials also said that drug runners may be targeting Nigerian women as "mules". The number of Nigerian women on drugs charges in UK jails has risen almost sixfold in three years, figures supplied to the BBC show. Reprinted from bbccaribbean.com