Cocaine seized at Gatwick airport

Cocaine worth almost half a million pounds has been seized at an airport by UK Border Force officers.

Officials working for the UK Border Agency at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex found 12 kilos of the class A drug when they searched a woman travelling from Kingston, Jamaica, with her three children on Friday morning.

Officers found cocaine in a number of items the woman was carrying, including a cosmetic paste, a UK Border Agency spokesman said.

He added that the woman was interviewed and charged with an importation offence. She has been remanded in custody and is awaiting a court appearance, he said.

Ingrid Smith, UK Border Agency assistant director at Gatwick airport, said: "Our officers work 24/7 to keep drugs, smuggled goods and illegal immigrants out of the UK.

"We are working hard to end this terrible trade which can have such a devastating impact on communities across the country."