UK authorities caught a California woman trying to smuggle over $1 million worth of crack cocaine hidden inside a massive Parmesan cheese wheel, according to reports.
Jamie Choi, 23, raised suspicions of UK Border Force agents when she landed at Heathrow Airport on May 25 from Brazil carrying a 17-pound wheel of Peruvian Parmesan, the Evening Standard reported.
Forensic tests confirmed the crack inside the cheese wheel was 94% pure, authorities said.
Jamie Choi, 23, of California, was sentenced to more than five years in a UK prison on smuggling charges.
NCA
“We’ve seen people trying to smuggle cocaine into the UK hidden inside all manner of innocuous-looking items, but Border Force and the National Crime Agency are well-practised in finding drugs, whatever the disguise,” said NCA senior officer Barry Vinall.
Travel trail before arrest
Officials said that before arriving at Heathrow, Choi flew from Los Angeles to Lima, Peru, then to Asuncion, Paraguay, and finally to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Handwritten note
Authorities also found a notebook in Choi’s bag with a single handwritten note dated May 21.
“I dropped out of [University of California Santa Barbara] on Monday,” she wrote.
“Currently I am in Paraguay in South America solo travelling for the first time. It’s been amazing so far.”
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