Stewardess jailed for smuggling cocaine in bra

A flight attendant who tried to smuggle cocaine into the UK by hiding it in her bra and knickers was jailed today for seven years.

South African Airways employee Elphia Dlamini concealed £120,000 worth of the drug in her under garments during a flight from Johannesburg.

But her plot was foiled when a sniffer dog nicknamed Clever Trevor detected the scent of cocaine on the 42-year-old on arrival at Heathrow.

Having pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, Dlamini, from Cape Town, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment at Isleworth Crown Court, the UK Border Agency said.

The air stewardess hid 3kg of cocaine on her body during the flight which arrived in London on the morning of June 26.

On landing, the entire crew was subjected to customs examinations during which the drug was detected by the highly-trained springer spaniel.

Dlamini pleaded guilty to importing a Class A drug in August.

Peter Avery, assistant director at the UK Border Agency's Criminal and Financial Investigations Directorate, said: "This drug smuggling attempt is particularly serious because this woman has sought to abuse her position, thinking the UK Border Agency would pay less attention to airline and airport staff. That is simply not true.

"This case shows that there is no one type of drug smuggler and we have got our eye on everyone coming into and out of the UK.

"We will stop at nothing to prevent drugs, offensive weapons, other contraband and illegal immigrants crossing our border."