Chris Lewis has been jailed for 13 years after being found guilty of smuggling cocaine worth £140,000 into Britain.

Chris Lewis has been jailed for 13 years after being found guilty of smuggling cocaine worth £140,000 into Britain.The former fast bowler, who took 93 wickets for England, hid the drug in fruit and vegetable juice tins stashed in his kit bag.The court was told drug barons used Lewis, 41, as a high-profile “mule”, believing his fame would guarantee his safe passage through customs.The jury at Croydon Crown Court heard how Lewis, who played in 32 Tests for England between 1990 and 1996, hid the drug in liquid form in the tins.He was stopped by customs officers at Gatwick Airport, following what he claimed was an innocent holiday visiting friends and family on the Caribbean island of St Lucia.When opened, the tins were found to contain 100% cocaine.Ex-London Towers basketball player Chad Kirnon, 27, who was co-accused of drug smuggling with Lewis, was also jailed for 13 years.The court heard the pair were stopped independently at the airport just after 5am on December 8 last year.They claimed to be travelling separately, but a Puma cricket bag Lewis was carrying was labelled with Kirnon’s name.Tom Wilkins, prosecuting, insisted the pair had been “acting together” to import the “very valuable consignment” in a “joint enterprise”.The jury was told that Lewis and Kirnon had known each other for two years and bumped into each other in north London last November.The trip was planned over a game of pool and they set out for Gatwick in the same taxi, the jury heard.But they fell out and during the trial they each blamed the other for setting them up.Lewis said: “When the officer said: ‘This isn’t juice, it’s cocaine,’ I thought it must be a mistake.“I’ve never even tried cocaine, I’ve never smuggled cocaine, or any other drug.”Peter Avery, assistant director of criminal investigations for the customs service, said after the case: “We have got the Olympic games coming up in 2012.“And clearly sportsmen and women will be targeted by organised criminal gangs from all over the world with a view to facilitating the importation of drugs into the UK"

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Krishen Kumar Bhantoo, 41, of Goldsmith Road, was sentenced to seven years at Croydon Crown Court today

Krishen Kumar Bhantoo, 41, of Goldsmith Road, was sentenced to seven years at Croydon Crown Court today. He was intercepted by the UK Border Agency after flying into the UK from Grenada in September with the drugs, which had a street value of around £80,000, in his luggage. He was charged with being knowingly concerned in the importation cocaine by HM Revenue and Customs. Peter Avery, assistant director of criminal investigations for HMRC, said: “Our investigators continue to play a key role in protecting communities by reducing the availability of drugs on UK streets.
“Our efforts will continue to reduce the devastating impact drugs have on individuals and local communities. ”

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Natasha Ennis jailed her for seven years.

previous convictions for her involvement with drugs didn't deter 32-year-old Natasha Ennis from carrying on in the trade.A judge told her at Croydon Crown Court last Friday that it was clear she had been making a living out of trafficking, and he jailed her for seven years.Sent down for 16 months was her lesbian accomplice, Lorna Barnes, 41, of of Green Lane, Penge. Both pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine and heroin.Prosecuting, Shekinah Anson said police were on their drug-tracing Operation Prada in the Penge area in January, and deals were done with Ennis and under-cover officers posing as customers.She was stopped in a car in Maple Road, Penge and police found two bundles of wrapped drugs in her underwear. In her socks they discovered £200 in cash.The drugs turned out to be heroin and cocaine with a street value of around £550.It appeared that Barnes had been using her car to ferry Ennis around. Ennis, of Elmers End, Beckenham, has served prison sentences for one case of drug smuggling and one of dealing. Defending, Brereton Horne said Ennis, when in Jamaica in her early days, had been ostracised by her grandmother because of her sexuality and she came to the UK.Judge Simon Pratt told her: "The indictment shows you dealing in Class A drugs no fewer than six times. It is quite clear you were making your living in drugs.
"You were a regular and commercial street dealer."John Horne, defending Barnes, said she had had a lesbian relationship with Ennis, but this broke up. She never had any financial reward for her part in the dealing.
Judge Pratt told Barnes: "Those who help dealers get sentences of imprisonment because they help the onward distribution of hard drugs into the community"Whether you did it out of love for her or not, it makes no difference.

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