Bowls playing ‘drug mule’ pensioner, 80, under house arrest as he's freed from Chile jail

EXCLUSIVE: Bowls playing ‘drug mule’ pensioner, 80, under house arrest as he's freed from Chile jailBritish pensioner William Eastment has been released from a Chilean prison on health grounds and placed under house arrest as he awaits his fate over alleged drug trafficking chargesNewsChristopher Bucktin United States Editor14:48, 21 Apr 2026Updated 14:52, 21 Apr 2026View 4 ImagesWilliam Eastment on the bowls green — the retired mechanic now accused of acting as an international drug mule(Image: Daily Mirror)The British bowls-playing pensioner accused of acting as an international drug runner has been released from prison in Chile on ill health grounds.‌William ‘Billy Boy’ Eastment has been placed under full house arrest, a court in Santiago has ruled, as his case continues. The 80-year-old Briton, who had been held in pretrial detention since May last year, was transferred out of Santiago 1 Penitentiary following a hearing at the Santiago Guarantee Court, where both prosecutors and defence lawyers agreed his physical condition had badly deteriorated.‌Eastment, a retired mechanic and keen bowls player, appeared frail as he entered court on Monday wearing a loose white sweatshirt, sitting hunched and following proceedings through a translator. He was arrested during a stopover in Santiago while travelling from Mexico to Australia after police allegedly discovered nearly five kilos of methamphetamine in his luggage. He has consistently maintained he was tricked into carrying the suitcase.‌View 4 ImagesEastment during a fishing trip. The pensioner denies knowingly carrying drugs in his luggage.READ MORE: Brit 'drug mule' fighting for life in Chile jail after 'trying to smuggle £200k of meth'READ MORE: Bizarre 'drug mule' explosion as 13 Brits in hellhole prisons and facing deathHis lawyer, Macarena Vial, told the court: “He is in a very critical health situation, with chronic problems that have been severely aggravated in Santiago 1....