A couple who hid cocaine in the lining of designer handbags in a bid to smuggle £1.2 million of the drug into the UK have been jailed for a total of 11 years.
Davide Fasano, 31, and his girlfriend Tania Michelle Cedeno-Piguave, 25, were stopped by Border Force officers at Gatwick Airport as they stepped off a plane from a week-long holiday in the Caribbean island of Aruba in July.
A sniffer dog went straight to Fasano’s suitcase, which contained five new handbags and just a small amount of clothes. Officials discovered about 12kg of cocaine in the lining of the handbags and under a false bottom of the suitcase. Fasano, an Italian living in East Dulwich, initially claimed he had found the suitcase next to a bus stop in Aruba and had taken it for his Spanish girlfriend because her luggage was broken.
Questioned by National Crime Agency officers after their arrests, on July 6, the couple both denied any knowledge of the class A drugs. However, WhatsApp messages — included Fasano offering Cedeno-Piguave £3,000 to accompany him to Aruba and Cedeno-Piguave saying it “would be dangerous” — proved their involvement in the plot.
They both pleaded guilty to importing drugs and were jailed at the Old Bailey on Friday. Fasano was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison, and Cedeno-Piguave was jailed for four years and eight months.
Steve McIntyre, NCA branch commander, described the smuggling attempt as “reckless”, adding: “Working with Border Force colleagues we will target anyone who tries to undermine the security of the UK border by smuggling illegal drugs and protect the public from the inevitable harm this causes.”
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