Airline passenger jailed for £8.5m cocaine haul

Alistair Paylor was jailed for six years

An airline passenger found with up to £8.5m worth of cocaine in his suitcase has been jailed for six years.

Alistair Paylor, 48, of High Northgate in Darlington, was caught at Newcastle Airport by UK Border Force after flying from Cancun in Mexico in August.

Officers found 25kg of 97%-pure cocaine in 12 vacuum-sealed packets, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Paylor, who the court was told was a homeless cocaine addict, admitted the fraudulent importation of the Class A drug.

Alistair Paylor was arrested at Newcastle Airport in August

Suspicions were aroused because he had no hand luggage but had checked in two large suitcases weighing a total of 44kg and for which he had paid a $250 excess fee, the court heard.

The cases were scanned and one, a large black American Tourister, showed "anomalies", prosecutor Robin Turton said.

It was found to contain 12 vacuum-sealed packages weighing a total of 25.18kg, the court heard.

The content was tested and found to be cocaine with a wholesale value of up to £875,000 and a street value of up to £8.5m, Mr Turton said.

The cocaine had been packed in vacuum-sealed bags in Paylor's suitcase

As Paylor was being detained by officials, his mobile phone was repeatedly ringing and multiple message alerts were sounding but he refused to unlock it for investigators, the court heard.

His passport showed he had also travelled twice to Thailand between November 2023 and June this year and had been in Mexico for nine days.

In mitigation, Rachel Hedworth said Paylor had been selling cocaine in the UK and agreed to act as a courier to clear a drugs debt of between £10,000 and £15,000.

The former fork lift driver developed a cocaine addiction after the death of his mother in 2016 which led to him being jobless and living on the streets of Middlesbrough, Ms Hedworth said.

Speaking after the hearing, Martin Clarke of the National Crime Agency said: "Drug smugglers like Paylor play a crucial role in a chain of criminality that leads from South American cocaine cartels right the way to the streets of the UK."

He said the drugs would have "made millions" for the crime gangs involved.