British man arrested ‘trying to take £2,000,000-worth of cocaine onto plane’
A British man has been detained in Colombia after trying to board a flight with a bag full of coke, it is alleged.
The man was due to fly from Alfonso Bonilla Aragon International Airport to the capital of Bogota, where he was reportedly taking a connecting flight to London.
But border force officers were alerted to his ‘suspicious attitude’ – as was Maximo the specialist sniffer dog.
Footage shows the individual, who has not been identified, looking on as police discover more than 23kg of cocaine wrapped up in 16 separate bricks.
An officer is overheard telling the man through a translator that they will test the drugs, before cutting open one of the packets.
The estimated value of the haul if sold in London would have been roughly £2 million.
Ever Gomez, the local police commander, said the man had been remanded in prison following his appearance before a judge.
Local press have reported detectives are attempting to determine whether the suspect had any known connection to drug gangs in the area.
It’s far from the first time a British national has been arrested over alleged involvement in Colombia’s narco-trade, itself one of the world’s most lucrative criminal markets.
In January 2018, Dorset-born brothers Martin and Stephen Neil were arrested on suspicion of smuggling more than £50 million worth of cocaine stowed in suitcases on a private jet that flew into a Hampshire airstrip from Bogota.
Martin Neil later received a 24 year jail sentence, while his brother Stephen was found not guilty.
Andrew Dreamer, from Barrow upon Soar in the Midlands, was arrested by Colombian police later that year for his suspected involvement in a £350 million drug ring.
The group Dreamer was accused of belonging to would reportedly disguise cocaine as dog food before shipping it across international borders.
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