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Man jailed for heroin smuggling attempt
26 January 2012
A German man, living in North Shields, was sentenced to 9 years in prison at Canterbury crown court on 25 January 2012, after being found guilty of attempting to smuggle approximately 4kg of heroin into the UK.
UK Border Agency officers stopped and questioned Alfred Poldrack on 12 August 2011 at the Channel Tunnel entrance in Coquelles, France. During the search of the British registered BMW he was driving, officers found 8 packages of heroin hidden in the car's dashboard. The packages had an estimated street value of up to £276,000.
Poldrack was charged with the attempted importation, and was found guilty by a jury at Canterbury crown court on 25 January before being jailed the same day.
Malcolm Bragg, assistant director for the UK Border Agency's criminal and fnancial investigation team, said:
'This is a strong warning to anyone who believes drug smuggling is acceptable. Clearly, the view of the courts is that it is a very serious matter and UK Border Agency officers will remain vigilant at all our ports and airports to prevent drugs reaching our streets.
'Heroin use destroys not only the lives of individual users, but also their families and the wider community.'
Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to drug smuggling should call our hotline on 0800 59 5000.
UK Border Agency officers use hi-tech search equipment to combat immigration crime and detect banned and restricted goods that smugglers attempt to bring into the country.
They also use an array of search techniques including detection dogs, carbon dioxide detectors, heartbeat monitors and scanners as well as visual searches to find well hidden stowaways, illegal drugs, firearms and cigarettes which would otherwise end up causing harm to local people, businesses and communities.