Cocaine worth £3million found hidden on a flight to Gatwick disguised as oil cylinders

Oil Filters: The cocaine was hidden in cylinders on the plane
NCA
Chloe Chaplain23 July 2016
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A plot by drug smugglers to bring £3million worth of cocaine into Gatwick Airport from Barbados disguised as oil has been foiled.

The drugs were being hidden in unaccompanied goods deliveries that were flown from the Caribbean to the London airport.

UK Border police identified a suspect shipment coming into Gatwick from Barbados on July 17 and found 18 kilos of liquid cocaine on board, hidden inside three metal canisters described as “oil filters”.

If cut and sold on the street the haul would have had a likely potential value in excess of £3 million.

The National Crime Agency has arrested three people.
NCA

The next day, NCA officers arrested 54-year-old Barbados-born Errol Watson, from Wanstead, East London.

He was later charged with importation of controlled drugs and remanded in custody.

Two men, aged 28 and 41, were also arrested in London and released on bailed, while police in Barbados arrested a further two men.

The investigation was a collaboration between National Crime Agency and the Royal Barbados Police Force.

The National Crime Agency has arrested three people.
NCA

Steve McIntyre from the NCA’s Border Policing Command said: “We believe this operation has successfully disrupted an organised crime group who thought unaccompanied freight was a low-risk way of moving class A drugs into the UK.

“Our investigation is ongoing, both here and in the Caribbean.”

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