Dope rope: Cocaine worth £500,000 seized from Gatwick Airport

Undated handout photo issued by the Home Office of rope used to secure a pallet that was seized at Gatwick Airport, in which cocaine worth more than £500,000 on the streets was hidden. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Tuesday November 18, 2014. Investigators said it was a "sophisticated" bid to smuggle 28lb (13kgs) of the drug through the West Sussex airport after arriving on a flight from Jamaica. The rope concealing the Class A drug was used to secure a pallet of imported food, including yams, sweet potatoes, avocados and soursop. See PA story CRIME Rope. Photo credit should read: Home Office/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

Rope used to secure a pallet that was seized at Gatwick Airport (Picture: PA)

Cocaine with an estimated street value of more than £500,000 has been found hidden in rope.

The drugs were seized at Gatwick in what investigators have described as a ‘sophisticated’ bid to smuggle 28lb (13kg) of cocaine through the West Sussex airport.

The rope concealing the Class A drug was used to secure a pallet of imported food, including yams, sweet potatoes, avocados and soursop, which arrived on a flight from Jamaica.

But when Border Force officers examined the tubular rope closely last Thursday, they found it was stuffed with high purity cocaine.

 

Customs officials have seized a whopping 29lbs of cocaine worth an estimated £500,000 after stopping it being smuggled into Britain ñ inside this ROPE. See SWNS story SWROPE: The incredible 13kg of cocaine was found concealed inside rope netting used to secure a pallet of food imported from Jamaica. Border Force officers at Gatwick Airport discovered the high-purity Class A drug surrounding a variety of fruit and produce, including yams, sweet potatoes and avocados that came in on a flight that landed last Thursday. Border Force South Regional Director Carole Upshall said: ìAs this seizure shows, smugglers often employ sophisticated methods ñ this time using the external rope packaging to try to conceal the drugs.

Officers described the smuggling method as sophisticated (Picture: SWNS)

Border Force south regional director Carole Upshall said: ‘As this seizure shows, smugglers often employ sophisticated methods, this time using the external rope packaging to try to conceal the drugs.

 

Undated handout photo issued by the Home Office of rope used to secure a pallet that was seized at Gatwick Airport, in which cocaine worth more than £500,000 on the streets was hidden. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Tuesday November 18, 2014. Investigators said it was a "sophisticated" bid to smuggle 28lb (13kgs) of the drug through the West Sussex airport after arriving on a flight from Jamaica. The rope concealing the Class A drug was used to secure a pallet of imported food, including yams, sweet potatoes, avocados and soursop. See PA story CRIME Rope. Photo credit should read: Home Office/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

The pallet was carrying food (Picture: SWNS)

‘But our officers are on constant alert at the borders to prevent the trade in drugs like cocaine and stop it from reaching the streets.’

 

Undated handout photo issued by the Home Office of rope used to secure a pallet that was seized at Gatwick Airport, in which cocaine worth more than £500,000 on the streets was hidden. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Tuesday November 18, 2014. Investigators said it was a "sophisticated" bid to smuggle 28lb (13kgs) of the drug through the West Sussex airport after arriving on a flight from Jamaica. The rope concealing the Class A drug was used to secure a pallet of imported food, including yams, sweet potatoes, avocados and soursop. See PA story CRIME Rope. Photo credit should read: Home Office/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

The drugs had a street value of £500,000 (Picture: SWNS)

She said Border Force officials were working with the National Crime Agency to try to trace the organised crime gangs behind the smuggling bid.