A man from south London has admitted swallowing 101 packets of cocaine and attempting to smuggle them through the port of Dover.
Kingsley Nwanekwu, a German national living in Greenwich, was jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to the offences on the first day of his trial at Canterbury Crown Court.
Nwanekwu was stopped by officers at Dover’s eastern docks on his arrival from Brussels on 26th November 2010.
After questioning him, officers conducted a body search and Mr. Nwanekwu was arrested as officers suspected he had swallowed drugs.
After a day in custody the 47-year-old was found to have swallowed 101 packages, which contained a total of 1.27kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of £280,000.
He pleaded guilty on 5th July and was handed an eight year jail term.
Malcolm Bragg, criminal and financial assistant director, UK Border Agency, said: “The concealment technique used by this individual shows the lengths some people will go to in order to avoid detection. The seizure of these drugs reflects the robust controls we have in place at the UK border which are backed by dedicated criminal investigation teams.
“Cocaine is a drug that destroys not only the lives of individual users, but also their families and the wider community.”
Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to drug smuggling is encouraged to call UKBA’s hotline on 0800 59 5000.
