80-year-old pensioner charged with drug smuggling after 3.3kg of meth found in his suitcase at Heathrow

An 80-year-old German man has been charged with smuggling class A drugs after a consignment of methamphetamine was found in his suitcase, at Heathrow airport.

Heinz Magel, of Bautzen, Eastern Saxony, was arrested at the airport on Monday afternoon by National Crime Agency officers.

Authorities say he had just flown in from Mexico City.

NCA officers and Border Force staff searched his suitcase and discovered a large quantity of the drug hidden in sweet wrappers.

The seizure was weighed by officers at 3.3kg of the Class A drug.

The 80-year-old will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court today.

Methamphetamine, which Magel was caught with, is a “powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system,” according to the National Institute for Drug Abuse.

The drug takes the form of a white, odourless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol.

The latest Government data suggests the maximum penalty for possession of a Class-A drug is “up to 7 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both” while the maximum penalty for supply and production is “up to life in prison, an unlimited fine or both”.

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