A pensioner who tried to smuggle cocaine worth more than £600,000 into the UK hidden in his mobility scooter has been jailed for six years.
National Crime Agency officers began investigating 71-year-old Ronald Lord, from Montreal in Canada, after he was stopped at Gatwick Airport on 7 February 2025.
He claimed to have been on a seven-day holiday to Barbados, and was also coming to the UK to sightsee.
Border Force x-rayed his scooter and found eight kilos of the drug hidden in a void in the seat back panel. The haul is valued at around £640,000, at street-level prices.
Lord told NCA investigators that he didn’t know how it had got in there and denied any knowledge. However, following a search a screw from the panel was found in his pocket.
Investigators also carried out checks with airlines, and found he had lied about his time in Barbados, spending only three days there before travelling to the UK.
On 5 August, during a hearing at Croydon Crown Court, Lord admitted class A drug smuggling charges. On Friday 5 September a judge at the same court sentenced him to six years in prison.
NCA Senior Investigating Officer Richard Wickham said: “Organised crime groups need smugglers like Lord to bring class A drugs into the UK, where they are sold for huge profit by gangs who deal in violence and exploitation.
“He obviously thought that because he was a pensioner he would be less of a target for law enforcement. He was wrong, and I hope this case sends out a message to anyone who would consider doing the same.
“Working with partners like Border Force, the NCA is determined to do all we can to stop class A drugs finding their way into the hands of criminal gangs, and target those involved in helping them.”
