Five Years Is Just The Tonic For Liquid Cocaine Smuggler

A Wolverhampton teenager, caught at Gatwick Airport trying to smuggle £160,000 worth of liquid cocaine inside bottles of tonic, has been locked-up for five years.

Neiko Nicholas Dinham, 19, of Willenhall Road had just stepped off a flight from Jamaica when he was stopped by officers from the UK Border Agency.

He pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court (pictured) to importing 583 gms of 43% pure cocaine on February 2.

Prosecutor Mr. Julius Capon told the court Dinham was stopped because his luggage was heavier on arrival at Gatwick than the weight recorded on departure from Montego Bay – indicating what customs describe as a “rip in.”

The smuggling operation involved corrupt baggage handlers adding the tonic bottles to Dinham's luggage after he checked-in.

Dinham claimed he did not visit Jamaica intending to return with cocaine, but bowed to pressure from drug smugglers once on the island.