Cocaine smugglers step up shipments into UK

Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain are the traditional routes for the drug’s entry to the European Union but the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said there had been a recent surge in cases of the UK being used as point of entry.

With the numbers of seizures taking place at ports of entry to the UK increasing, experts are also saying the country has seen an increase in the use of so-called designer drugs.

INCB president Hamid Ghodse said: “It is not only the UK but the Netherlands also, Portugal also and Spain also.

“Traditionally they were the hub of the importing to Europe but now the UK is also one of the countries. Cocaine comes to the UK to be diverted to the rest of Europe.”

Cocaine trafficking via the UK may have increased because of recent tightening of drug enforcement in other countries.

Recent cases include a Nigerian shopkeeper who was jailed last month for smuggling cocaine through Leeds Bradford Airport.

Chukwuenmeka John, 37, arrived on a flight from Amsterdam on November 18 last year, carrying 1.23kg (2.7lb) of pure cocaine in a rucksack.

The 37-year-old, who was jailed for six years eight months, was paid £2,000 for acting as a courier on the trip from Lagos.

Mr Ghodse added: “Drug traffickers are extremely clever. Whenever enforcement increases in one place they try to go to another place.”

Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain accounted for about 70 per cent of cocaine seized in Europe in 2008, although they accounted for only 25 per cent of consumption of the drug.

The INCB annual report also warned that the use of designer drugs was continuing to escalate.

Mr Ghodse called for a generic ban on the narcotics, and acknowledged the work the UK had done on controlling substances such as the mephedrone, also known as meow meow, and the cannabis mimic “spice”.

The report highlight at least 15 designer drugs being used in Europe and 51 in Japan, while amphetamine and ecstasy use had fallen amongst UK drug users who were increasingly turning to cocaine instead.

Mr Ghodse said: “We know the use of cocaine has increased, one has replaced the other one.”

Western Europe is the world’s largest market for heroin, and the UK, Italy, France and Germany were responsible for 60 per cent of the region’s consumption of the drug.

Minister for crime prevention James Brokenshire said the report acknowledged positive developments but there were also worrying figures, particularly on UK cocaine use. “I am committed to ensuring the UK is leading the way in tackling the international drugs trade.”

Mr Brokenshire said the recently published drugs strategy set out how the net would tighten on drug dealers by seizing their assets at home and abroad.