CRIME AGENCY Image caption – Kevin Enright was found guilty of importing a Class A drug

Image copyright NATIONAL 

A cruise ship passenger who used a Caribbean holiday as cover to bring cocaine worth more than £200,000 into the UK has been jailed.

Kevin Enright, 55, was arrested as he disembarked a liner at Southampton Docks on 31 October.

Almost three kilos of cocaine was found in his suitcases.

He was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison for importing a Class A drug, following a trial at Southampton Crown Court.

National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators said Enright, from Milton Way in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, claimed the cruise had been paid for following a win on the horses, and that he had innocently purchased the suitcases.

CRIME AGENCY Image captionTraces of drugs were found within false linings of two suitcases

Image copyrightNATIONAL 

When officers searched his luggage, they found traces of drugs within a false lining of two suitcases, one of which had been inside the other.

The NCA was able to prove he had collected the cases in St Lucia, and that he had been in contact with others suspected of involvement in the importation.

Bob Holness, NCA senior officer, said: “Our investigation involved liaison with law enforcement partners in the Caribbean, and through that, we were able to prove that Enright’s story was made up.

“It became clear that he had contacts with others involved in drug trafficking on both sides of the Atlantic.”