Brit arrested for attempting to take £2,000,000 worth of cocaine on plane

A Briton has been arrested in Colombia after attempting to board a plane with a bag full of coke, sources say.

The man was scheduled to fly from Alfonso Bonilla Aragon International Airport to the capital, Bogota, where he reportedly caught a connecting flight to London.

But border officials were alerted to his “suspicious attitude” – as was Maximo, the specialist sniffer dog.

Footage shows the unidentified person watching as police uncover more than 23kg of cocaine packed in 16 separate bricks.

An officer can be heard telling the man through a translator that they will test the drugs before cutting open one of the packets.

The estimated value of the transport, if sold in London, would have been around £2 million.

Ever Gomez, the local police commander, said the man was remanded in custody after he appeared before a judge.

The local press has reported that detectives are trying to determine if the suspect had any known links to drug gangs in the area.

It is far from the first time that a British national has been arrested for alleged involvement in Colombia’s drug trade, which is itself one of the most lucrative criminal markets in the world.

In January 2018, Dorset-born brothers Martin and Stephen Neil were arrested on suspicion of smuggling more than £50million worth of cocaine stowed in suitcases on a private jet headed to an airstrip in Hampshire from Bogota was.

Martin Neil was later sentenced to 24 years in prison while his brother Stephen was found not guilty.

Andrew Dreamer, from Barrow upon Soar in the Midlands, was arrested by Colombian police later that year over his alleged involvement in a £350million drug ring.

The Dreamer group, of which they are a part, reportedly disguised cocaine as dog food before shipping it across international borders.

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