Gatwick cocaine smuggler jailed

A woman has been jailed for five years for attempting to smuggle cocaine worth around £900,000 into the UK via Gatwick airport.

Jacqueline Millar, 50, was arrested by Border Force officers after she arrived on a flight from Toronto on September 1. The drugs were found in her suitcases.

The case was handed over to an investigation team from the National Crime Agency’s Border Policing Command.

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Forensic tests were carried out and the cocaine, which weighed around five kilos, was found to be between 65 and 70 per cent pure. If cut and sold on the streets it would have had a value of around £900,000.

Millar, from Blackburn, pleaded guilty to importing a class A drug and was sentenced to five years in prison by a judge at Croydon Crown Court today (Tuesday October 22).

Peter Avery, from the NCA’s Border Policing Command, said: “This was a substantial amount of a class A drug destined for the streets of the UK.

““Working with our Border Force colleagues we are determined to tackle those responsible for trafficking illegal drugs into the UK and causing terrible damage to our communities.”

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Carole Upshall, director of Border Force South, added: “We welcome the sentence handed out in this case. Working with our colleagues at the NCA, Border Force is at the forefront of the fight to stop drugs entering the UK.”

“The NCA is a new law enforcement agency that has been tasked with leading the UK’s fight to cut serious and organised crime.

“Its Border Policing Command has over 300 officers at major ports, investigating detections of drugs, firearms, cash and other non-fiscal crime made by Border Force. The BPC also has an extensive overseas network of around 120 officers in 40 locations around the world.”