Drugs mule lied about footie trip
Confused crook said he’d head back to Brazil for World Cup ... held in 2014
A Lanarkshire drugs courier was snared after telling suspicious customs officers he was planning a repeat trip to Brazil to see the 2014 World Cup almost two years after the tournament had ended.
Terence Boyd, of Bellshill, was detained by Edinburgh Airport staff after returning from a trip to the South American country on February 19 this year.
The High Court in the city heard on Tuesday how the photographer attracted the attention of curious Border Agency staff.
The 43-year-old told them he had gone to São Paulo to see a carnival and was planning on returning to the country to see the tournament in the summer.
When workers told him the event had taken place in 2014, the flustered crook told them that he had gone there to sell Scottish culture buffs a Brazilian tartan.
Staff then took him away and found he was carrying cocaine with a total maximum street value of £48,560 in his body.
Prosecution lawyer Richard Goddard told the court: “He claimed to have been in Brazil for a carnival and that he was returning there in the summer for the World Cup. “However, the football World Cup had taken place two years before.
“He claimed he had worked whilst in Brazil and was trying to sell a Brazilian tartan.
“The accused’s suitcase, passport, shoes and toothbrush were swabbed and all gave a positive reaction for cocaine.”
The story emerged after Boyd pleaded guilty to importing drugs before judge Lord Mcewan.
The court heard how Boyd had left London Heathrow on a flight to São Paulo on February 8.
On February 19, he arrived at Edinburgh Airport having taken a flight from São Paulo to Frankfurt International Airport.
Mr Goddard told the court: “He cleared customs controls there before travelling 140kms to Frankfurt Hahn Airport for his flight to Edinburgh.
“This is despite the fact he had a flight booked for him from Frankfurt International Airport.”
He was then detained after staff at Edinburgh Airport saw him walking through the ‘Blue Channel’ for EU arrivals carrying only one piece of luggage.
Police took Boyd to the custody suite at Glasgow Airport.
He initially refused to have an x-ray and declined the opportunity to take legal advice. However, he eventually had an x-ray and police discovered he had a total of 22 packages of cocaine hidden inside him.
Mr Goddard told the court that once Boyd had passed the packages, police officers discovered the cocaine was 70 per cent pure.
The average purity cocaine in Scotland is per cent.
If the packages had ruptured in Boyd’s body he could have died.
The court also heard Boyd was jailed for 30 months in 1997 for being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
Defence advocate David Nicolson told the court that his client had met a Brazilian drug dealer who paid him £500 to take cocaine back to Scotland.
Mr Nicolson added: “He was told that he would be paid after the drugs had of 15 been delivered. Somebody was going to contact him and take the drugs.
“He was just the mule in this case. He isn’t particularly high up the chain.”
Passing sentence, Lord Mcewan told Boyd that if he hadn’t pleaded guilty, he would have jailed him for five years.
He added: “Given your plea, you are entitled to a discount and therefore the sentence of the court will be 40 months’ imprisonment.”
He was just the mule, he isn’t high up the chain