Passenger from Gatwick had £9,300-worth of cocaine

Mohammed Rasel Ahmed, 41, admitted importing 62.02grams of the class A drug along with 6.31grams of the class B rated herbal cannabis when he appeared in the Royal Court.

He is now set to serve seven years at Les Nicolles prison.

Prosecuting Advocate Phoebe Cobb told the court how the defendant was a Bangladeshi national who had been working in Guernsey on and off since 2018 in hospitality and security.

He arrived on the flight from Gatwick at 5.45pm on 27 March. When customs officers spoke to him he said he had been to the UK in connection to an existing medical condition.

When his suitcase was opened the officer noted a strong smell of cannabis and there were numerous tiny resealable clear polythene bags in it.

When asked what they were, he said a local tailor friend had asked him to bring over some button bags. He denied any involvement with illegal drugs and that there was nothing on his record, but it emerged he had been cautioned in the UK three times, the most recent 18 years ago.

Items in his suitcase tested positive for cocaine.

He was arrested and taken to hospital where he was placed in a white paper suit and kept under observation. He later passed a cylindrical package which consisted of a condom wrapped in cling film, which had the drugs inside.

He denied all knowledge of the package – a stance he maintained across three interviews.

The cannabis had a local street value of up to £315.

Defending, Advocate Samuel Steel said his client wished to apologise to the court and the people of Guernsey. He was sorry for not being honest with police in interview but said he had been frightened of the consequences.

No one had seen him pass the package and no DNA linked him to it so he should get credit for his guilty pleas in that respect. He had been diagnosed with mixed anxiety and a depressive disorder. He had played the role of a courier and he had been a model prisoner at Les Nicolles. A support worker feared the consequences of a prison sentence on his health.

Lt-Bailiff Russel Finch said the court had noted the defendant’s continuing lies to officers and the unpleasant task they had in recovering the package.

‘We are only too aware of the misery the use of such substances causes and the affect that it has on the community,’ he said.

Ahmed was jailed for seven years and four months for the cocaine importation with 18 months, concurrent, for the cannabis.

The court will also recommend to the Lt-Governor that the defendant, who has no ties to Guernsey, should be deported on his release from prison.