A 42 year old man who had been caught trying to smuggle cocaine through Stansted airport has been sentenced to serve a five year jail term. Kwame Raymond of warrior close Thamesmead was arrested by border force officers on January 17 at Stansted airport. His arrest was made due to his suspicious behaviour just after he landed on a flight from Netherlands.
He was then taken in for questioning where he first claimed that he was from attending a funeral at Netherlands. Upon further questioning he admitted to have swallowed hundred pellets of cocaine. After the confession the man was taken for forensic tests which revealed that he indeed had cocaine pellets in his stomach. The tests estimated that all the pellets were 2.2 kilograms. If that amount of cocaine would be removed and sold within the UK, the owners would earn £ 421,000. The national crime agency border policing command went on further to carry out investigations before Raymond appeared in court.
The case was heard at Isleworth crown court on 14th April, Raymond pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and was sent to prison for five years. The director of border force regional director was shocked at the manner in which Raymond had attempted to smuggle the drugs. He said that his case showed just how far smugglers will go to bring cocaine and other drugs into the UK. Mr. Phillip Holliday said that swallowing that much drugs is risking one’s life. If maybe one of the packages broke, the consequences would have been very dangerous for Raymond.
He assured residents that the border force officers were alert to stop any form of illegal drugs from making way into the UK. He added that they are being helped by the NCA, this way it’s easier for them to stop the people behind drug smuggling and other forms of crime.