AN ITALIAN carpenter has been jailed for seven years after admitting attempting to smuggle over 30kg of illegal drugs through Stansted Airport.

AN ITALIAN carpenter has been jailed for seven years after admitting attempting to smuggle over 30kg of illegal drugs through Stansted Airport.

Giuseppe Greco, 24, from Sardinia, arrived at Stansted on a late flight from Genoa on January 16, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

He had tried to abandon his luggage and leave the airport but was intercepted by officers from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Both of his trolley cases were locked and Greco claimed to have lost the keys. He said that he only had clothes and books in them but when officers scanned the baggage they saw what appeared to be 33 rectangular packages inside. The locks were forced and the tape wrapped packages removed along with a set of scales.

Most of the packages contained cannabis resin, but two of them had cocaine concealed inside. Officers also found 10 small pellet shaped items which looked as if they could be carried internally.

Greco, of no fixed abode, was taken to a local hospital where he underwent an examination to confirm that all the packages had been found.