the bungling smugglers
A gang has been jailed after smuggling £1.5m-worth of pure heroin into the UK, sewn into Pakistani dresses.
They mixed the drug with paracetamol to maximise profits - and turned it back into solid blocks to make it appear pure.
There was so much heroin dust in the house where they did this that it took an industrial cleaning company two days to clean up.
Unfortunately for them - and fortunately for Oldham, because heroin is one of the most revolting drugs there is - this gang weren't actually that bright.
One made a little video diary on his phone (which was recovered by police and used in evidence), showing them buying the heroin, stitching it into the salwar kameez, posting it to Britain and boasting about what they had done.
I nearly laughed out loud in court when I heard what one of them told police. When asked about all the heroin dust he claimed he thought the others were baking cakes and the powder was flour.