Wooden baskets, vegetables and their own bodies: The unusual - and failed - methods of bungling drug smugglers

By LEWIS BAZLEY
Updated: 02:51 EST, 6 January 2011

A recent security blunder at Heathrow allowed drug smugglers to stroll through unchecked but new pictures show most ploys were intercepted in 2010 - whatever bizarre lengths the criminals went to.

Customs officers were ordered not to look for drug smugglers at Heathrow over Christmas because of staff shortages.

But photographs released by the UK Border Agency confirm that even the most brazen smuggling attempts were foiled last year.

Concealed cocaine: A UK Border Agency officer opens up a yam with Class A drugs hidden inside, discovered at Kent International Airport in August

One smuggler, intercepted at Kent International Airport last year, had hidden 10 kilos of cocaine - around £500,000 worth - into cases of yams.

The vegetables, which came from Ghana, had been cut open to conceal the Class A drugs and glued back together.

These yams taste strange: Cases of the vegetable were found to house hidden cocaine by border staff at Kent International Airport

Two other drug mules, whose attempt certainly blurs the line between bravery and stupidity, simply strapped kilos of heroin to their bodies as they tried to drive into the UK.

Nearly 80 kilos of heroin, worth more than £5m on the street, was discovered in a lorry at Humber Sea Terminal, South Killingholme.

The Dutch driver and passenger were jailed for up to 20 years after the drugs were found strapped to their bodies and hidden in the fridge motor and cabin roof.

Wide load: This drug smuggler was halted at Humber Sea Terminal with packets of heroin strapped to his body

Drug cartels even resorted to using the elderly to smuggle their wares into Britain, with one 72-year-old man arrested last year at Heathrow.

David Pryor, of Wellingborough, was arrested at Terminal 5 in September after arriving on a flight from Tanzania.

His luggage was searched and when officers cut into three woven baskets they found four kilos of heroin worth around £100,000.

Pryor has admitted the offence and will be sentenced next week at Isleworth Crown Court.

Appearances can be deceptive: These woven baskets, smuggled by a 72-year-old man, may look charming but they were found to contain heroin at Heathrow last year

Hidden heroin: This tube was weaved inside baskets carried by 72-year-old David Pryor

Another substantial consignment of cocaine, worth around £70,000, was discovered inside glass ornaments at Coventry International Postal Hub in August.

The drug was concealed in air pockets inside the decorative objects, which included love hearts, chickens and miniature bottles.

The parcel was sent from Peru and was destined for an address in St Paul's, Bristol. No-one has been arrested.

And in one of the UK Border Agency's biggest success stories last year, metal drums containing powdered nuts were also found to conceal 33 kilos of cocaine, with a street value of £6.7m, in May.

The air freight consignment was examined in transit while at Heathrow, heading from Mexico to Melbourne, Australia.

A dummy shipment was substituted for the drugs and four Americans and one Australian were arrested once it arrived.

£6.7m seizure: Metal drums containing powdered nuts also held an incredible 33 kilos of cocaine

The agency also revealed today that smugglers attempted to transport a kilo of cannabis within a wooden-framed portrait of Manchester City player Emmanuel Adebayor.

The painting had been sent from Adebayor's native Togo and was intercepted at a Coventry postal hub en route to Tottenham in north London.

Other finds included:

• 1.1 kilos of cocaine, worth £270,000 on the street, was found concealed in packets of peanuts and cashew nuts in freight at Gatwick Airport in March. The drugs had been sent from Jamaica and led to the arrest of 50-year-old Neville Emmanuel Williams of Cecil Street, Stourbridge. He admitted drug smuggling and was jailed for seven years.
• A package of cocaine weighing around 110g and worth up to £40,000 was found hidden in a birthday card destined for an address in Belfast in November.
• In December, a British man and woman arrived in Britain from Amsterdam after swallowing and stuffing around 500g of heroin. The woman required surgery to remove the drugs after eight days.
• A 45-year-old self-employed mechanic from Trinidad and Tobago was arrested shortly after he arrived at Gatwick Airport last month when one kilo of liquid cocaine was found inside two bottles of Baileys he was carrying.