Drug dealer jailed after being caught at Birmingham Airport using fake passport
A drug dealer has been sent back to prison and given an additional two-year sentence after being caught flying back to the UK from Spain on a false passport.
Matthew Whaley, 41, originally from Holloway in London, was detained by the National Crime Agency at Birmingham Airport on February 24.
He was travelling on a fraudulently obtained genuine British passport carrying the name of Kevin Benson.
NCA officers working on a separate investigation found evidence that the Benson document was false and added it to a watch list, ensuring authorities would be alerted the next time it was used to try to travel to the UK.
Whaley was arrested in possession of the passport as he stepped off a plane from Malaga.
In 2005 Whaley was sentenced to 18 years after being convicted of conspiring to supply 37 kilos of cocaine, and was released on license after serving nine years.
Following his arrest at Birmingham he was returned to prison to complete the rest of his jail term, but at a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday (March 24) he was sentenced to two years in prison for possessing a false identity document.
Dawn Cartwright, head of the NCA’s Birmingham border investigation unit, said: “Criminals use these documents to mask their movements and true identities, but this case demonstrates that through working with HM Passport Office and Border Force we can track and stop them.
“Matthew Whaley thought he could move in and out of the UK undetected using this fraudulent obtained passport, but the diligence of our investigators ensured he was stopped in his tracks and put back in prison.”
