Woman caught with cocaine in her body
BAG OF DRUG WITH STREET VALUE OF £20,000 FOUND ‘CONCEALED INTERNALLY’
A WOMAN was caught with a stash of cocaine hidden inside her body at Manchester Airport.
Makeisha Padmore, 34, was stopped by Border Force officers on April 17 after arriving from Barbados in an intelligenceled operation.
Padmore’s luggage was searched and found to be clear of drugs.
But the contraband was found after a female officer carried out an intimate search, it is understood.
A 250g bag of cocaine, with a street value of £20,000, was found ‘concealed internally.’
The case was then passed to the National Crime Agency.
Padmore, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, pleaded guilty to attempting to import a Class A drug at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court and has now been jailed for three years.
Adam Knight, Border Force assistant director at Manchester Airport, said: “Border Force officers work tirelessly to prevent smuggling of illegal drugs and were it not for their intervention, this cocaine would have ended up on Britain’s streets.
“Smugglers will go to extreme lengths to avoid detection, but we are determined to stop harmful class A drugs like this entering the country.
“We work closely with the National Crime Agency and law enforcement partners in the UK and overseas every day to keep our country safe.”
Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, Victoria Atkins, added: “The government’s Serious Violence Strategy, which we launched last month, aims to combat the devastating impact drugs have on levels of serious violence.
“It also highlights a strong link between drugs and serious violence and the related harm and exploitation from ‘county lines.’ The government has set out the action it will take to tackle this violent and exploitative criminal activity.
“The action of Border Force to stop drugs before they get into the country forms a key part of our work.”