A man was arrested after smuggling cocaine into the UK with a statue of a golden duck.
Officers from the National Crime Agency launched an investigation last month after that the Border Force at Stansted airport X-rayed a suspicious wooden box containing the duck statue that had arrived on a flight from Cali in Colombia.
When officers removed the statue, they drilled into it and “a sticky pink substance leaked out”, which tested positive for cocaine.
The substance was found mixed with all the material from the duck and would have decomposed into the powdered version of the Class A drug.
In addition, Alushi, originally from Albania, he had been living in the UK illegally.
A search of his rented room in Millwards turned up five mobile phones and a variety of identity documents under different names.
The man of 29 years old originally told the police that the duck statue did not belong to him and that he was receiving it on behalf of another Albanian man who had helped him enter the UK.
February 18 at Chelmsford Crown Court , Alushi confessed to importing drugs into the UK, for which he will be sentenced next 02 of March.
Lydia Bloomfield, NCA Branch Commander ( National Crime Agency), said: “This is without a doubt one of the most unusual drug smuggling attempts we have seen, and it shows the lengths organized crime groups are willing to go to try to avoid detection.
“Cocaine trafficking fuels significantly more crime, especially serious violence, both upstream where the drug is obtained and here on the streets of the United Kingdom”, he added.
Martin Hendy , deputy director of the Border Force for the Central Region, said: “Drug supply chains are violent, exploitative and degrading neighborhoods throughout our country.”
He added that those involved in the exi All operations to stop drug shipments “can be proud of their work.”
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