Drugs Smuggler Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

A WOMAN who tried to smuggle nine kilos of high purity cocaine through Gatwick Airport has been jailed for four years.

Aimee Mason, 22, from Dagenham, Essex, was stopped by UK Border Agency staff at the airport's South Terminal on November 27 last year.

Her baggage was searched and the Class A drugs, which had a purity of about 70 per cent and an estimated street value of £360,000, were found hidden in one of her suitcases.

Mason told officers she had been on holiday to Antigua with a friend.

Despite claiming she didn't know anything about the drugs when interviewed after her arrest, Mason pleaded guilty to drug smuggling at Croydon Crown Court Thursday (February 16).

An Essex based woman, who was caught by UKBA officials trying to smuggle 9kg of pure cocaine through Gatwick in November 2011, has been jailed for four years. Aimee Mason, 22, of Singleton Road in Dagenham, was stopped for routine checks at Gatwick’s South Terminal. A search of her luggage uncovered the class A drug, which was found to have a purity of 70%.

The drug was found amongst belongings in her suitcase with officials estimating that the substance had an estimated street value of around £360,000. Following her arrest, Mason told UKBA staff that she had been in Antigua, on holiday with a friend. Having initially claimed that she knew nothing of the drugs, Mason later admitted her guilt when she appeared at Croydon Crown Court on February 16th 2012.

Peter Avery, Assistant Director of the Criminal Financial Investigation Team at the UKBA said: “The UK Border Agency is at the forefront of the fight to stop drugs, weapons, other contraband and Illegal Immigrants entering the UK. Let this case serve as a warning to those who may think they can elude our controls, we have the ability to detect and bring you to justice.”

A further UKBA statement added: “alongside a dedicated presence at our ports and airports, we also have specialist criminal and financial investigation teams across the country that work to identify those involved in smuggling and UK Immigration crime, be they the smuggler or wider criminal gang.”

Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to drug smuggling can call the smuggling hotline on 0800 59 5000.