EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR, packets of peanuts and a bottle of Bailey’s were all unknowing aids to the smuggling of illegal drugs into Britain last year, reports the UK Border Agency.
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The frame of a painting of former Arsenal footballer Adebayor – now at Manchester City – held a kilo of cannabis, worth about £3,000, when it was found by border agents on its way to an address in Tottenham.
Meanwhile at Gatwick airport, investigators discovered £270,000 worth of cocaine stuffed into otherwise innocent packets of peanuts and cashew nuts as well as two bottles of Bailey’s which contained liquid cocaine instead of coffee liqueur.
“These smuggling attempts show the lengths that organized criminals will go to in a bid to get drugs into the UK,” said Brodie Clark, head of the UK Border Force.
“Criminals are prepared to invest large sums of money to come up with ever better concealment methods because they know the potential profits from the awful trade in harmful drugs are considerable.”
Other “concealment methods” rooted out by the Border Force in 2010 included a consignment of yams, each of which had been cut in half, stuffed with cocaine and then glued back together; glass ornaments filled with cocaine; a case of drums, also containing cocaine, and a birthday card with a £40,000 present of cocaine inside.
Clark says that his force’s “most important weapon in the fight against drug smuggling is intelligence” and urged “anyone with information that might be useful to the UK Border Agency to phone our hotline on 0800 59 5000”.
