Jamie Choi, a 23-year-old US attempting to smuggle crack cocaine worth £800,000 into thecitizen from California,A woman has been jailed after attempting to smuggle crack cocaine worth £800,000 into the UK by concealing it inside a wheel of parmesan cheese.
Jamie Choi, a 23-year-old US citizen from California, was stopped by Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport on May 25 after arriving on a flight from Brazil.
Officers became suspicious of the 8kg cheese wheel Choi was carrying. She claimed a friend had asked her to bring the parmesan from Lima, Peru, for them to try. However, an inspection revealed the cheese had been hollowed out and filled with crack cocaine.
According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), forensic testing confirmed the substance was 94% pure crack cocaine.
Investigators discovered that Choi had flown from Los Angeles to Lima on May 20, continued to Asuncion, Paraguay the following day, and then travelled to the UK via São Paulo, Brazil, arriving at Heathrow on May 25.
A notebook found in her handbag contained a handwritten entry dated May 21, stating:
“I dropped out of UCSB [University of California Santa Barbara] on Monday. Currently, I am in Paraguay in South America solo travelling for the first time. It’s been amazing so far.”
Choi was charged with importing Class A drugs and pleaded guilty at Isleworth Crown Court on August 6. She was sentenced on Tuesday to five years and three months in prison.
Barry Vinall, Senior Investigating Officer at the NCA, said:
“We’ve seen people try to smuggle cocaine into the UK hidden inside all manner of innocuous-looking items. But Border Force and the National Crime Agency are well-practised in finding drugs, whatever the disguise.
Smuggling drugs into the UK is simply not a risk worth taking. It has consequences, as seen in this case.”
