Manchester Airport: £1m worth of cocaine found hidden in electric wheelchair during security check

The discovery was made at Manchester Airport on Sunday (30 March) after a passenger flew in from Bridgetown, Barbados. Border Force officers scanned the wheelchair and found 11 packages of cocaine, weighing 12kg, hidden in the seat and backrest, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Portuguese national Casimiro De Lemos-Francisco, 56, has been charged with drug smuggling and is due to appear at Manchester Crown Court on May 6. NCA senior investigating officer Charles Lee, said: “The concealment shows the ingenuity crime groups employ to smuggle cocaine.

“The NCA works with partners at home and abroad to combat the threat of Class A drugs and protect the UK public.” The incident comes after a gang of American drug runners were also charged in February for smuggling cocaine at Manchester Airport - this time while hiding in the toilet.

The couriers - five women and two men - had been recruited by drug barons in the US and offered between £3,000 and £4,000 to fly to the UK and pick up the 12 bags. Inside was more than 300kg of the Class A drug. But the plan fell apart after a member of staff at an X-ray machine became suspicious of the rectangular-shaped blocks in the cases, and border officials swooped in.