Frankfurt or Amsterdam? Sheffield cocaine smuggler ‘forgot’ where he had been

The National Crime Agency investigated Mohammed Hussain, 29, of Uttley Drive, Darnall, after the class A drugs were found in a British-registered BMW which had arrived on a ferry in Dover on 29 September 2020.

Hussain, who was driving the car, initially told Border Force officers who had stopped the vehicle that he had been to Frankfurt, staying at a Holiday Inn.

But he couldn’t provide any details and then changed his account to say he had been to Amsterdam during the previous four days.

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A search uncovered the drugs, which weighed 16 kilos, in taped packages which had been hidden in all four door panels of the car.

Small amounts of cannabis were also found in the car following further searches.

The cocaine and heroin would have been worth around £1 million if sold on the streets of the UK.

Hussain was subsequently charged with attempting to import class A drugs and convicted yesterday (14 June) following a four-day trial at Canterbury Crown Court.

NCA Branch Commander Martin Grace said: “Officers were immediately suspicious when Hussain seemed to have forgotten where he had spent the days leading up to his arrest. His story just wasn’t plausible.

“As it turned out his car was carrying a lethal cargo of class A drugs, the kind distributed by county lines gangs and other exploitative criminal networks throughout the UK.”

Hussain will be sentenced at a later date.