Drug smuggler disguised £1.5m of liquid meth as 'holy water'

Faisal Mahmood, 41, of St Agatha’s Road, Birmingham, was sentenced to four years imprisonment when he appeared at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday.

He had initially denied attempting to import a Class A drug at an earlier hearing but changed his plea to guilty.

Mahmood, a Pakistani national, was stopped by Border Force officers at about 5pm on October 21 last year when he arrived at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 3 on a flight from Karachi.

During a search of his baggage, officers found a large plastic container. Mahmood claimed this liquid to be ‘Holy Water’ that someone had asked him to bring to the UK.

Subsequent forensic analysis of the liquid revealed it to contain 9.82 kilos of methamphetamine, known as liquid meth, suspended in solution. The drugs had an estimated street value of £1.5 million.

The case was referred to the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) Border Policing Command and, following questioning, Mahmood was charged with attempting to import a Class A drug.

During interviews with NCA investigators Mahmood claimed the reason for his trip to Pakistan was to visit his ill father.

Mahmood had returned from Pakistan only six days before setting off on this trip. When asked why he told officers claimed this was to visit an ill uncle.

Phil Douglas, Border Force Heathrow Director, said: “It is hard to think of anything further removed from ‘holy water’ than liquid methamphetamine.

Mahmood clearly thought that by disguising his illicit cargo in this way he could evade detection, but Border Force officers are trained to expect the unexpected.

“Their efforts prevented a dangerous amount of Class A drugs from reaching our streets.

“We continue to work with our colleagues from the NCA to do all we can to stamp out this despicable trade and bring those responsible to justice.”

Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to smuggling should call the hotline on 0800 59 5000.