Ormskirk smuggler used children as cover in £2m heroin plot

Michael Sloan thought travelling with his family would make him less conspicuous, police said

A father who used a Christmas trip with his children as a "cynical" decoy in a plot to smuggle almost £2m of heroin into the UK has been jailed.

Michael Sloan, 42, of Ormskirk in Lancashire, told UK Border Force officers he had taken the family to a festive market in Cologne, Germany.

But officers found Class A drugs concealed in his campervan at Dover's Eastern Docks on 23 December 2019.

He was jailed for six years and four months after admitting smuggling drugs.

Sloan, of Bridge Street, pleaded guilty at Canterbury Crown Court to smuggling Class A drugs.

The National Crime Agency said he had been travelling with his partner and three children, aged between one and six, when he was questioned by border officers.

Michael Sloan hid drugs in a compartment specially built into his campervan

The heroin seized had an estimated street value of £1.98m

A drug detection dog discovered almost 20kg of heroin concealed in a storage compartment Sloan had specially built in his campervan.

The NCA said the heroin had an estimated street value of £1.98m.

Branch commander Mark Howes said."This was a cynical attempt to bring dangerous drugs into the UK, which saw Sloane use his partner and young children as cover for his smuggling exploits.

"I've no doubt that the concealment in the van was built specifically for the purpose of smuggling, and that Sloan thought that travelling with his family would make it less likely they would be stopped."

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