Edinburgh Airport drug smugger jailed
24.01.09
A Mexican who was caught trying to smuggle drugs worth almost £1 million into Scotland via Edinburgh Airport has been jailed for four years and eight months, as the judge issued a warning to other potential couriers.
Noe Machado, 40, arrived at the airport after flying from Mexico via Paris with his wife and four children on 10 November last year. The family was stopped as he went through the ‘nothing to declare’ channel.
Customs officials noticed a number of irregular shapes when his laptop bag was put through an X-ray machine for a random check, and three packages were found. Further packages were discovered when the rest of his luggage was checked, and a total of 16kg of cocaine was found.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard that the drugs had a street value of £960,000, making the seizure the largest single haul of cocaine in Lothian. Mr Machado admitted the illegal importation of cocaine and was jailed for almost five years.
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