Errol Watston, of Queenswood Gardens, Aldersbrook, who smuggled £2 million of pink liquid cocaine from Barbados to the UK is jailed for 16 years

Errol Watson, of Queenswood Gardens, Aldersbrook, was sentenced to 16 years in prison at the Old Bailey yesterday (January 18) after admitting conspiring to import the drugs.

The 54-year-old was arrested at Gatwick Airport on July 17 2016 after border police found bright pink liquid cocaine concealed in three metal canisters he was carrying on a plane from Barbados.

The suspicious containers were disguised as oil containers but tested positive for the Class A drug when they were x-rayed.

Officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) had the cocaine removed from the cylinders and filled with sand.

The 26kg of drugs they removed had an estimated street value of over £2 million.

When Watson tried to deliver the containers and get inside them he realised the drugs were missing and called his contact in the Caribbean.

He said: “Somebody opened this thing and put something in it...this thing empty…I’m telling you.”

Watson was then arrested at his home in Aldersbrook.

Over in the Caribbean, Royal Barbados Police raided two addresses, which lead to the arrest of Watson’s brother and the discovery of more pink liquid cocaine.

Similar containers were found in other locations on the island.

Records showed that Errol Watson was involved in several other cases of smuggling, where he had received the containers, emptied them and sent them back to the Caribbean.

He admitted the charges against him at the Old Bailey on January 16.

His brother was also convicted of smuggling offences.

The NCA Border Policing Command’s Steve McIntyre said: "Drug trafficking is a crime that has great impacts, from exploitation in South American source countries to violence and gun crime on the streets of London.

“I have no doubt that Errol Watson had been involved in this type of criminality for years.

"This was certainly an unusual method of smuggling cocaine, the first time we have seen it in brightly coloured pink liquid like this.

"It was also a very deep concealment, demonstrating that the organised crime groups we are combating have access to sophisticated equipment and expertise.

Special prosecutor for the CPS’ Organised Crime Division Laura Tams added: “Errol Watson was at the heart of a sophisticated and organised conspiracy to import cocaine into the UK from the Caribbean.

“Through collaborative working between prosecutors, the National Crime Agency, Border Force and the authorities in Barbados, he has been brought to justice.”