WIREDGOV

A man who used a pet transportation business as a cover for drug smuggling has been handed a seven-and-a-half year prison sentence, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.

43-year-old Scott Parker (below), a London-born dual national living in Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa, was arrested by NCA officers on Friday 21 November 2014 at the Heathrow Animal Reception Centre.

Centre staff had alerted Border Force after noticing that a crate used to transport animals from Johannesburg was unusually heavy when empty.

When the crates were examined officers found compartments containing packages of heroin in the base.

Forensic tests showed the packages contained around nine kilos of high-purity heroin. If cut and sold in the UK it would have had a likely potential street value of around £1.2 million.

NCA investigators arrested Parker as he waited to collect the animals, unaware that the heroin had been discovered.

The cats were later reunited with their owners, who were completely unaware their animals had been used as a front for smuggling.

Parker, who worked for a company which specialised in transporting animals by air, admitted charges of attempting to import a class A drug, and on Friday 18 June a judge at Isleworth Crown Court in west London sentenced him to seven-and-a-half years in jail.

Ian Truby, from the National Crime Agency’s Border Investigation Team at Heathrow, said:

“This was a highly unusual attempt to bring a substantial quantity of class A drugs into the UK.

“Parker thought he would avoid our attention. But the Heathrow Animal Reception Centre staff were vigilant and our investigation showed that he knew the drugs were there.

“Working with Border Force we will continue to target those who attempt to bring illegal drugs into the UK.

Pictures of the crates used in the smuggling attempt can be found on the NCA Flickr Feed.