A MAN has denied trying to smuggle £3m of liquid cocaine into the UK from the Caribbean.

Errol Watson, of Queenswood Gardens in Aldersbrook, was arrested on July 17 after a flight from Barbados arrived at Gatwick Airport with 18kg of liquid cocaine hidden inside three metal canisters.

The 54-year-old, who was born in Barbados, is accused of disguising the liquid cocaine as oil in an attempt to smuggle it into the country.

Hours after the flight landed, National Crime Agency officers arrested Mr Watson outside his house and charged him with drug smuggling offences.

He denied them at a hearing at the Old Bailey yesterday (October 31) and has been bailed until his trial on January 16.