A 50 year-old London man was jailed for 22 years at Isleworth Crown Court last Thursday for  smuggling 27.33 kilos of cocaine in boxes of vegetables through Heathrow Airport.  Grant Owusu-Afriyie of 1 Larch Road, Leyton, London was convicted at the end of a three-week trial. The Class A drugs had an estimated street value of about £1.5 million.

Duncan Stewart, HM Revenue & Customs Deputy Director for Criminal Investigation South, said:
"Revenue & Customs officers have prevented a large amount of cocaine from hitting the streets of the UK. The successful interception, investigation and prosecution of this case has culminated in a lengthy custodial sentence being imposed and sends a clear message to those wanting to profit from Class A drugs."

The Court heard how the concealment was found on 7 September last year by Revenue & Customs officers based at Heathrow Airport when they examined a freight consignment from Ghana.  The drugs were concealed within the inside skin of cardboard boxes used for packaging a consignment of vegetables.

In passing sentence, His Honour Judge Karu said:
"Drugs are a blight on society and cause untold misery around the World.  There is no doubt that you were an organiser of this importation. You have put forward a lying account to the Jury and admitted other wrong doing and false doing during the course of the trial. You do not have the mitigation of having admitted guilt and have not assisted the Authorities at all."

This case was successfully prosecuted by the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO). RCPO is an independent prosecuting authority, which reports to the Attorney General, and is responsible for the prosecution of all HMRC cases in England and Wales.