Drug smuggling siblings caught at UK airport with £5m of cocaine after mum recruited them

A photograph has captured the moment a family of siblings were caught smuggling millions of quid's worth of cocaine into the UK.

The group was roped into the drug racket by their own mum, Farzana Kauser. The 54 year old enlisted five of her offspring to ferry drugs from Cancun in Mexico all the way to Birmingham Airport.

Two of the children were teenagers when they committed the offences between August and November last year. The gang employed a complex scheme to sneak high-grade cocaine into the country.

Kauser, along with five other members of the gang, previously admitted to importing roughly 180 kilograms of cocaine with a wholesale value of nearly £5 million into the UK from Mexico. Two additional gang members confessed to participating in the activities of an organised crime group.

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Between August and November 2024, the defendants carried out at least five drug importation trips using the same technique each time. They would arrange brief one or two-night jaunts to Dublin or Amsterdam without any luggage.

Their return flights were meticulously timed to coincide with the arrival of flights from Cancun, Mexico, reports Birmingham Live.

Upon landing at Birmingham Airport, instead of retrieving luggage from their own flight carousel, they would head straight to the Cancun carousel where they would pick up suitcases stuffed with cocaine that had been loaded unaccompanied onto the Mexico flight.

They would then stroll through customs as if returning with their own bags. The elaborate scheme was ultimately exposed on November 11, 2024, when National Crime Agency officers apprehended six suspects outside Birmingham Airport's arrivals area with six suitcases containing approximately 180 kilograms of cocaine.

The operation was largely a family-run affair, masterminded by Farzana Kauser and involving her children and relatives. The only non-family member involved was Khaled Abdulkawi, who acted as a courier, collecting drugs on behalf of another organised crime group.

The following defendants were sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug of Class A:

• Farzana Kauser was jailed for 13 years and four months
• Safa Noor, 19, from Bradford, was jailed for seven years and two months
• Mohammed Aamir Shaffaq, 28, from Bradford, was jailed for eight years and nine months
• Umair Mohammed, 22, from Bradford,was jailed for eight years and one month
• Junaid Shaffaq, 33, from Bradford, was jailed for ten years and nine months
• Khaled Abdulkawi, 36, from Halesowen in Dudley, was jailed for ten years and nine months
• In addition, Hamza Shaffaq and Sarah Hussain pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group:
• Hamza Shaffaq, 18, from Bradford, will be sentenced in October
• Sarah Hussain, 27, from Bradford, was handed a two year sentence suspended for two years

Sarah Ingram, from the Crown Prosecution Service, stated: "This was a sophisticated and well-planned operation to flood the UK with high-purity cocaine worth millions of pounds. What makes this case particularly concerning is the family nature of the conspiracy, with a mother recruiting her own children to participate in serious organised crime.

"The defendants thought they had devised a foolproof method to import drugs, but thanks to the vigilance and thorough investigation by the National Crime Agency and our prosecution, their criminal enterprise was brought to an end.

"By dismantling this organised crime group, significant quantities of drugs have been removed from circulation and can no longer reach our streets."

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson stated: "This case demonstrates the commitment of the Crown Prosecution Service and law enforcement partners to disrupting drug supply chains and bringing those involved in serious organised crime to justice."

Rick Mackenzie, NCA senior investigating officer, further noted: "To her friends and people who thought they knew her, Farzana Kauser was a thoughtful, loving mum who seemed very normal. She was very well practised in her life as a high-end cocaine trafficker and she took great pains to delete any trail of evidence.

"She led this crime group with dedication and determination, often instructing her children on how to smuggle the drugs effectively and on what techniques to employ. She pushed her children into huge danger and has allowed their futures to be effectively destroyed.

"Her youngest son was just 17 when he was encouraged to play a major role in couriering drugs into the country, drugs that wreck countless lives across the UK in their links to violence, addiction and other crimes. The NCA works side by side with partners at home and abroad to combat the threat Class A drugs pose to the UK."