What do bottles of Baileys, woven baskets and a painting of Premiership footballer Emmanuel Adebayor have in common?
They are all places where officers from the UK Border Agency found drugs hidden during searches at ports, airports and postal sorting offices across the country in 2010.
Brodie Clark, head of the border force, said: “These smuggling attempts show the lengths that organised criminals will go to in a bid to bring drugs into the UK. Criminals are prepared to invest large sums of money to come up with ever-better concealment methods because they know the potential profits from the awful trade in harmful drugs are considerable.”
Clark continued: “However, the smugglers are no match for the skill of our officers and the state-of-the-art technology at their disposal.”
On 16 March last year more than a kilo of cocaine, with an estimated street value of GB pound 270,000, was found concealed in packets of peanuts and cashew nuts.
The drugs arrived on a freight flight to Gatwick International Airport from Jamaica. The discovery led to the arrest of 50-year-old Neville Emmanuel Williams from the West Midlands, who subsequently pleaded guilty to smuggling and was jailed for seven years.
You’ve been framed!
One kilo of cannabis, commanding a street value of GB pound 2,850, was found concealed within a wooden framed painting of Manchester City footballer Emmanuel Adebayor at Coventry International Postal Hub on 29 June.
The painting was sent from Togo, and was destined for an address in North London. Investigations here are ongoing.
Meanwhile, yams were used to conceal an estimated ten kilos of cocaine, with an estimated street value of GB pound 0.5 million, on board a freight flight at Kent International Airport.
The vegetables had been cut open to conceal the Class A drugs and then glued back together. Again, investigations are ongoing.
The Wicker Man is caught out
In addition, a 72-year-old man was arrested at Heathrow last September after he arrived on a flight from Tanzania.
His luggage was searched and officers found three woven baskets concealing four kilos of heroin worth a street value of GB pound 100,000.
David Pryor of Wellingborough pleaded guilty in November and will be sentenced later this month.
Anyone with information that might be useful to the UK Border Agency is urged to telephone the hotline on 0800 595000
