Drugs mule swallowed 99 wraps of cocaine and tried to smuggle them into Heathrow

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A drugs mule has been jailed after authorities discovered he swallowed 99 wraps of cocaine in a bid to smuggle them into Heathrow Airport.

Jean Da Silva Oliveira, 22, consumed more than one kilogram of the substance, and has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Oliveira flew out from his hometown Sao Paolo in Brazil with the intake of class A drugs.

After landing at the London airport on September 5, he was stopped by Border Force officers.

Officials found inconsistencies in his account – he was arrested before a National Crime Agency investigation began.

Oliveira – who had claimed he was in the UK for nearly a month as part of a “dream” visit – was x-rayed and the large number of packages was uncovered.

The drugs’ street value was around £100,000 – and weighed 1.18kg at 82 per cent purity

But that was not the end of it, as he was kept in custody until all 99 packages had been passed.

Oliveira pleaded guilty on September 10 at Uxbridge Magistrates Court to trafficking class A drugs into the UK.

He was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday, October 8.

National Crime Agency operations manager Ian Truby said: “Illegal drugs are the cause of much violent crime, exploitation and a lot of misery.

“Through our work with partners at home and abroad, we are combating the threat drugs trafficking poses to the UK.”

Border Force officers use hi-tech search equipment to spot banned and restricted goods that smugglers attempt to bring into the country.

In May, they stopped an attempt to smuggle more than 170 kilos of heroin into the UK at Heathrow.

On that occasion, the drugs were found in 630 commercial boxes of fruit and nuts and were hidden in envelopes concealed in the outer cardboard box walls.

Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to smuggling should call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or go to the Report smuggling page on GOV.UK.

• Drugs
• Crime

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