Man caught smuggling cocaine from Jamaica gets 13-year prison sentence
A man who tried to smuggle £300,000 worth of cocaine from Jamaica into Britain in tins of chocolate powder mix has been jailed for 13 years after he was arrested with 10 pounds of the drug in cans of fruit a few years before.
According to foreign media reports, 58-year-old Michael Kellar was arrested at Birmingham Airport after arriving on flight from Montego Bay, St James.
It was reported that this is the second time Kellar had been arrested over importing cocaine after he was held in 2012 over the discovery of drugs in a suitcase at London Gatwick Airport.
The suitcase, which had Kellar’s name on it, was found abandoned on the baggage carousel at the airport in March that year, but Kellar was nowhere to be seen.
Officers carried out checks on the suitcase and found tins of fruit punch inside containing 10lbs (4.7kg) of liquid cocaine with a potential street value of £375,000.
Kellar was arrested and questioned over this incident a year later but denied any knowledge.
UK media further reported that with no drugs in his possession and the absence of more evidence, he was not charged at the time and later left the country.
But following his arrest in Birmingham this year, he was charged in connection with both importations.
Kellar was found guilty by a jury following a six-day trial and at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
The court heard he also had previous convictions for possessing and supplying crack cocaine.