Newcastle Airport drug smuggler Bonniface Tsuna Chakka jailed
A man has been jailed for eight years for trying to smuggle drugs through Newcastle Airport.
German Bonniface Tsuna Chakka, 42, of no fixed address, had denied trying to smuggle cocaine with a street value of £143,000 through the airport in March.
Newcastle Crown Court heard he was stopped by UK Border Force staff, who found 1.8kg of the class A drug in the lining of his suitcase.
He had arrived on a flight from Gambia, via Brussels, the court was told.
Speaking after the three-day trial, Border Force spokesman Malcolm Bragg, said: "The sentence handed out should serve as a warning to anyone involved in drug smuggling."