A 23-year-old woman from the US has been jailed for five years and three months after attempting to smuggle crack cocaine worth £800,000 into the UK concealed inside a parmesan cheese wheel.

Jamie Choi, from California, was stopped by UK Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport on 25 May 2025 after arriving on a flight from Brazil.

When questioned about the 8kg cheese wheel she was carrying, Choi claimed a friend had suggested she buy it from Lima, Peru, for them to try.

However, when officers examined it, they discovered the cheese contained 94% pure crack cocaine.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) took over the investigation and traced Choi's travel route. She had flown from Los Angeles to Lima on 20 May, then on to Asuncion, Paraguay, before travelling to the UK via São Paulo, Brazil.

During a search, officers found a notebook in Choi's handbag with an entry dated 21 May, the day she left Lima, stating: "I dropped out of UCSB [University of California Santa Barbara] on Monday.

"Currently I am in Paraguay in South America solo travelling for the first time. It's been amazing so far."

Choi pleaded guilty to importing Class A drugs at Isleworth Crown Court on 6 August.

NCA senior investigating officer, Barry Vinall, said: "We've seen people trying to smuggle cocaine into the UK hidden inside all manner of innocuous looking items, but Border Force and the National Crime Agency are well-practised in finding drugs, whatever the disguise.

"Smuggling drugs into the UK is simply not a risk worth taking – it has consequences, as seen in this case."

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