THREE people from Hampshire have been jailed over a year-long drug smuggling conspiracy which ended with a man being caught bringing cocaine into the UK from Peru.

An investigation by the National Crime Agency showed that 44-year-old drug courier Glynn Davies, from Lymington, was working together with his girlfriend and business partner to sneak drugs into the UK, making multiple trips to South America in 2017 and 2018.

He was stopped by Border Force officers at Gatwick in July 2018 having arrived on a flight from Lima, Peru. After a search they recovered two foil-wrapped packages inside his jeans.

Both contain a combined one kilo of high-purity cocaine, which would have been worth around £80,000 once cut and sold at street level.

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NCA investigators found that Davies had been in contact with his girlfriend Sheena Spedding, aged 24 and also from Lymington, throughout the trip.

Phone analysis showed she had organised much of his travel and hotel arrangements, and he had sent her a picture of the drugs on Whatsapp.

NCA officers were also able to find evidence that the flights had been paid for by a man Davies referred to as his business partner, Lee Hollister, 35. Messages between the two showed Hollister providing Davies with advice, while his credit card and address were listed on the booking.

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Searches of Hollister’s home address in Lymington identified numerous items associated with drug dealing, including scales and bags used for packaging up cocaine.

Davies had also made six previous trips to Lima in the previous year, on two occasions accompanied by Spedding. Hollister transferred £26,000 to them while they were there.

Further messages on his phone showed Davies had spoken to contacts in Peru about prices of product, and suggesting he wished to do business on a monthly basis.

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When confronted with the evidence the NCA had gathered against them Davies and Spedding pleaded guilty to conspiring to import class A drugs.

Hollister, however, denied being part of the plot, but was found guilty by a jury at Croydon Crown Court on 2 December 2022. On 17 April 2023 at the same court, he was jailed for 11 years. Davies was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison, while Spedding got four years for her part.

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NCA Branch Operations Manager Chris Duplock said: “Our investigation proved that Davies, Spedding and Hollister worked together to import cocaine into the UK over a period of a year.

“They used contacts in South America to source the drugs, which would then be passed on to criminal gangs in the UK for onward distribution. No doubt they stood to make substantial profits.

“Working with law enforcement partners we are determined to target those involved in this type of criminal activity and stop drug traffickers before their product can reach the streets of the UK.”