Lewisham man charged after £2m of cocaine found hidden beneath seat of plane

A man from Lewisham has been charged with smuggling 30 kilos of cocaine into an airfield in Essex.

Border Force officers discovered more than £2million worth of cocaine hidden beneath a seat on a plane that flew from France to North Weald airfield near Epping on Thursday evening.

Errol Weir, 49, of Shifford Path, Lewisham, was charged with the importation of Class A drugs at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.

Anastasios Balian, 52, from Cheshunt, was also charged with the importation of Class A drugs as part of the same investigation.

The pair were arrested and interviewed by National Crime Agency officers, before being charged.

NCA branch operations manager Paul Orchard said: “This was a significant quantity of cocaine with a likely street value in excess of £2million.

“In making this seizure we have denied the profits of that to those involved, and prevented them from being used for further criminality.

“Working with colleagues at Border Force we are determined to do all we can to protect the public and disrupt the criminal networks involved in bringing narcotics into the UK.

“To do that we need the public’s support, and I’d ask anyone who lives or works near a small airfield to report any suspicious activity to the police.”

Pictured top: Packages of cocaine worth an estimated £2million were found hidden beneath a seat on a plane (Picture: NCA)