A British man caught smuggling £8.5million of cocaine has been jailed for six years.
Alistair Paylor, 48, of High Northgate in Darlington, was apprehended by border security guards at Newcastle Airport after flying to the UK from Cancun in Mexico.
Paylor, a homeless cocaine addict, aroused suspicions after travelling back from Mexico in August with no hand luggage but two large suitcases which he had paid a $250 excess fee to accommodate.
After detecting anomolies with the luggage, the suitcases were later found to contain 12 vacuum-sealed packets of cocaine which weighed a total of 25.18kg, the court heard.
Following purity tests, the cocaine was found to be 97% pure, with a wholesale value of up to £875,000 and a street value of up to £8.5m.
As he was being arrested, Paylors phone starting ringing repeatedly but he refused to unlock it for investigators, the prosecuation said.
Further investigation showed he had also travelled to Thailand twice in the past year, as well embarking on a nine-day trip to Mexico.
His attorney claimed Paylor had developed a cocaine addiction following the death of his mother in 2016, and had been selling the drug and acting as a courier to clear drug debts of between £10,000-£15,000.
The former fork lift driver lost his job due to his addiction and had been living on the streets of Middlesbrough prior to his arrest.
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