A 56-year-old Portuguese man who posed as a disabled air passenger to smuggle cocaine into the United Kingdom was jailed after Border Force officers found packages of the class A drug hidden inside his mobility scooter.
Casimiro De Lemos Francisco, from Guimarães in northern Portugal, was stopped at Manchester Airport on March 30 after arriving from Bridgetown, Barbados. Officers discovered 11 packages of cocaine concealed in the backrest of his electric wheelchair, with a total weight of up to 12 kilograms and an estimated street value of about £880,000.
De Lemos Francisco was questioned while his wheelchair was being scanned and told officials he was in the country for two days to visit a friend. He initially denied knowledge of the contents of the scooter and said officials would have to ask his friend, according to court reports. A tracking device was later found in the chair's battery compartment, which investigators said was placed by the organised crime group that supplied the consignment.
He appeared at Manchester Crown Court last week and admitted smuggling Class A drugs into the UK. The court handed him a prison sentence of nearly seven years.
The discovery in Manchester follows a similar case earlier this year in which a 71-year-old man was jailed for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Britain in a wheelchair. Ronald Lord, a Canadian national, was stopped at Gatwick Airport on Feb. 7 and later jailed for six years after officers recovered about 8 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of roughly £600,000.
National Crime Agency senior investigating officer Charles Lee said the cases showed the lengths organised crime groups will go to conceal drug shipments and that exploiting mobility equipment and passengers pretending to be disabled was “particularly abhorrent.” He said the NCA worked with partners at home and abroad to disrupt the flow of Class A drugs and protect the public.
Border Force officers routinely inspect mobility aids and other assistive devices when passengers use them to conceal contraband. In both the Manchester and Gatwick incidents, officers used scanning equipment that prompted further examination of the chairs and discovery of the concealed drugs.
Prosecutors argued the wheelchair was used deliberately to avoid detection and to exploit the empathy often shown to passengers who declare mobility needs. Defence details given at sentencing were limited in court. De Lemos Francisco pleaded guilty to the charge of importing a Class A drug and was sentenced accordingly.
Authorities did not say whether further arrests were imminent in connection with the smuggling attempts, or whether the same organised group was responsible for both incidents. Investigations into cross-border trafficking of illegal drugs remain ongoing as law enforcement agencies continue to target routes and methods used by criminal networks.