A woman who tried to smuggle £800,000 worth of crack cocaine into the UK stashed in a hollowed-out cheese wheel has been jailed.
US national Jamie Choi, 23, was stopped by Border Force officers at Heathrow on May 25 after arriving on a flight from Brazil.
The California resident was then asked about the 8kg Parmesan cheese wheel she had with her.
Choi claimed a friend had suggested she buy the cheese from Lima, Peru, for them to try, but when officers examined the wheel they found it contained crack cocaine.
Forensic analysis later revealed the drug to be 94 per cent pure – giving it a street value of £800,000.
The National Crime Agency, took over the investigation, tracing Choi’s route zig-zagging across South America after flying from Los Angeles to Lima on May 20, 2025.
The next day, Choi travelled to Asuncion, Paraguay, and on May 24, she flew to Heathrow Airport, after connecting through Sau Paulo, Brazil.
A woman who tried to smuggle £800,000 worth of crack cocaine into the UK stashed in a hollowed-out cheese wheel had been jailed. US national Jamie Choi (pictured) , 23, was stopped by Border Force officers at Heathrow on May 25 after arriving on a flight from Brazil
The California resident was then asked about the 8kg. parmesan cheese wheel she had with her (pictured)
A notebook was found in Choi’s handbag, which contained a single handwritten memo dated May 21 – the day she left Lima
A notebook was found in Choi’s handbag, which contained a single handwritten memo dated May 21 – the day she left Lima.
It read: ‘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, who was charged with importing Class A drugs, pleaded guilty to the offence 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 work taking – it has consequences, as seen in this case.’
Choi was jailed for five years and three months on August 12.
It comes after last month three Brits who had been warned they faced the death penalty for smuggling drugs into Bali hidden in Angel Delight packets were let off with just a one-year prison sentence.
The Indonesian court instead gave 12-month prison terms to the three British nationals, all from Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, who had been accused of drug running on the resort island.
Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 38, and Lisa Ellen Stocker, 39, were arrested on February 1 after being stopped at Bali’s international airport with 17 packages of cocaine that weighed nearly a kilogram, according to public court records.
They appeared in court alongside Phineas Ambrose Float, 31, who was allegedly due to receive the packages from them and was arrested a few days later in February.
The trio appeared in distinctive white and red prison uniforms before a panel of judges at Denpasar District Court on July 24.
Presiding judge Heriyanti declared that all three suspects had violated article 131 of Indonesian Narcotic law – but said he was reducing the sentence because they had admitted their offences and had behaved ‘politely’.
All three defendants stated that they accepted the verdict and would not file an appeal. The time served since their arrest in February will count towards their sentence, meaning they should be released early next year.
The shorter sentence was a surprise as convicted drug traffickers, especially those caught with large quantities, have in the past been executed by firing squad in Indonesia, including foreign nationals.
