Belfast Airport border agency seizes £30,000 of cocaine

21/11/2009

By James Wilson.

A passenger at Belfast International Airport was caught in possession of around £30,000 worth of cocaine, it has been reported.

Lamine Sambu, 37, brought the drug into the country on a flight from Amsterdam on November 3rd, BBC News reports.

The packages, consisting of 70 grams of the drug with an average potency of around 72 per cent, were discovered by border staff when they became suspicious after questioning Mr Sambu.

Belfast High Court charged the Guinea-Bissau national with importing class A drugs after his defence was turned down.

According to the news source, Crown counsel David McClean said: "The nature of importation suggests an organised operation.

"The background of the incident would suggest he is a trusted courier that has brought these drugs into the country."

Mr Sambu claimed the packages were for personal use only and were given to him in an Amsterdam nightclub.

In related news, UK Border Agency officers at Heathrow Airport made their biggest seizure of heroin last month (September).

Some 165kg of the drug were found hidden in souvenirs from South Africa, along with 6,500kg of herbal cannabis and resin.

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