A drugs mule who swallowed 99 bags of cocaine weighing more than a kilogram before entering Britain has been jailed.
Jean Da Silva Oliveira tried to smuggle the class A drugs with a street value of around £100,000 from Sao Paolo in his native Brazil.
The 22-year-old smuggler was stopped by Border Force Officials when he landed at Heathrow airport last month.
He was arrested when officials suspected he had provided a false account.
Oliveira told officials that he was in Britain for nearly a month as part of a "dream" visit and was staying in a tourist hotel in London. He said he has bought his ticket months before in March but checks revealed he had only purchased his ticket three days before.
But X-rays revealed that 99 packages of 82 per cent pure cocaine weighing 1.18kg were inside him. Officers also found £1,000 cash on him.
The smuggler was kept in custody until he had excreted all of the drugs
Oliveira pleaded guilty to trafficking class A drugs on September 10 at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court and was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday.
He was sentenced to four years.
Ian Truby, operations manager at the National Crime Agency (NCA), who led the investigation, said: “Illegal drugs are the cause of much violent crime, exploitation and a lot of misery.
“Through our work with partners at home and abroad we are combating the threat drugs trafficking poses to the UK.”
In May, the NCA stopped an attempt to smuggle more than 170 kilos of heroin into the UK at Heathrow.
On that occasion, the drugs were found in 630 commercial boxes of fruit and nuts and were hidden in envelopes concealed in the outer cardboard box walls.
Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to smuggling should call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or go to the Report smuggling page on GOV.UK.
