THREE KILOGRAMS of cocaine worth an estimated £200,000 (J$15.6 million) was seized by Customs officers at Manchester Airport from a Jamaican man on Saturday, November 9, according to Her Majesty's Customs and Excise (HMCE).
HMCE said that Hopeton Calvin, a 55-year-old car mechanic from St James, Jamaica, was stopped by officers in the Nothing-to-Declare line on arriving on the Montego Bay flight. When officers examined his luggage, they found four coconuts, a selection of toiletries, shoe polish and seven bottles of tonic wine.
It is alleged that three of the coconuts contained cocaine suspended in the coconut milk, five bottles of tonic wine had cocaine in solution and several condoms containing cocaine were found in the toiletries and the shoe polish.
In total three kilos of cocaine was found. Mr Calvin was charged on Sunday with attempting to smuggle a controlled substance into the UK.
He was remanded in custody and is due to be put before Manchester Resident Magistrate's Court later this week.
Matthew King, of Customs said, "It is unusual to find such a selection of concealments in one go."
