A heroin smuggler who pretended his grandmother had died as a ploy to sneak more than £4million worth of Class A drugs through Manchester Airport has been jailed.
Muhammad Shafiq Khan, 44, was sentenced to eight years in prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to importing the Class A drug.
Taxi driver Khan, from Bradford, was stopped on June 30 as he returned from Pakistan where he claimed his grandmother had just died.
However Border Force staff found 15kg of heroin in his suitcases with an estimated street value of £4,080,000.
Sam Bullimore, Assistant Director for Border Force at Manchester Airport, said: “I would like to praise the hard work and vigilance of our officers.
“Technology plays a key part in many of our detections but the skills and expertise of our officers have been the critical factor in recent successes.”
After an initial inspection Khan, who is originally from Pakistan, was found to have drugs in his smaller case.
However after then emptying his larger case border officials noticed it was far heavier than expected for an empty suitcase.
An x-ray then revealed drugs hidden in the lining of the case.
“Our efforts mean a substantial quantity of harmful drugs has been kept off the streets,” said Mr Bullimore.
“We will continue to work hard to keep our borders safe and crack down on drug smuggling.”
Khan was sentenced to eight years at Manchester Crown Court.
Investigations are ongoing in this case and anyone who has information on this case, or any illegal activity linked to smuggling, are advised to call 0800 59 5000 anonymously.
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