"In a move branded abhorrent by investigators, Casimiro De Lemos Francisco, who is not disabled, travelled through Manchester Airport in the drugs-laden wheelchair on 30 March. When the 56-year-old Portuguese national was stopped by Border Force, he told officers he was visiting the country for two days to see a friend after flying in from Bridgetown in Barbados. His wheelchair was then scanned, and when questioned about what was inside, he replied: I don't know, you will need to ask my friend."
"Officers discovered 11 packages of cocaine, weighing 12kg and worth 880,000, concealed in the backrest and seat. A tracking device used by the crime group behind the operation was also found hidden in the battery compartment. Following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation, De Lemos Francisco, who is from Guimaraes in the north of Portugal, admitted smuggling class A drugs at Manchester Crown Court last week. He was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison on Thursday."
Casimiro De Lemos Francisco, a 56-year-old Portuguese national from Guimaraes, travelled through Manchester Airport on 30 March using an electric wheelchair that contained concealed cocaine. Border Force stopped and scanned the wheelchair and found 11 packages weighing 12kg and worth 880,000 hidden in the backrest and seat. A tracking device used by the crime group was found in the battery compartment. He admitted smuggling class A drugs and was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to six years and nine months in prison. A separate case involved Ronald Lord, jailed for six years after hiding 8kg of cocaine in a mobility scooter.
Read at www.independent.co.uk
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