Drug smuggler who mixed crack cocaine with coffee beans jailed for six and a half years

A woman who attempted to smuggle crack cocaine into the UK disguised as coffee beans is jailed.

Maxine Spence denied knowing the drugs were in the coffee but was found guilty after a trial

A woman who attempted to smuggle crack cocaine into the UK disguised as coffee beans has been jailed.

Maxine Spence, 45, was arrested at Manchester Airport after arriving on a flight from Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Thousands of rocks of crack cocaine with a street value of £160,000 were found in her luggage, mixed into six bags of coffee beans.
Spence, of Lozells, Birmingham, was jailed for six-and-half years at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.
She initially denied knowing the drugs were present in the coffee and claimed she had bought the bags from a market in Jamaica.

But she was found guilty of importing a Class A drug after a three-day trial.

After the sentencing, Rob Miles, head of the National Crime Agency's border investigation team at Manchester Airport, said: "This was a professional attempt.
"The rocks of crack had been sealed into the bags using sophisticated industrial processes.
"Spence claimed not to know the drugs were in there but she knew exactly what she was doing and the evidence we put before the court demonstrated this, resulting in her being found guilty by a jury."