A MOTHER who used her own children to smuggle millions of pounds of cocaine into the United Kingdom through Birmingham Airport has been jailed.
Farzana Kauser was sentenced for 13 years and four months for her part in running an international crime group after a National Crime Agency investigation.
The 54-year-old worked with an unidentified accomplice in Pakistan known as ‘Uncle’ to mastermind the smuggling of cocaine from Cancun in Mexico to the UK.
The NCA say she betrayed no outward signs of running the UK side of the crime group, and even when she was arrested in November at Birmingham Airport, claimed she was only there to collect her children.
The agency said Kauser was there to collect her children – but they were carrying 180kg of cocaine with a street value of around £14.4m and some of it was due to be passed to a courier from another organised crime group, with the remainder taken back to Kauser’s home in Bradford and then moved on.
NCA investigators showed it was the fifth time the crime group – which included Kauser’s four sons, one daughter, and daughter-in-law – had couriered high purity cocaine into Birmingham Airport between August and November 2024.
The offenders booked short one or two-night trips to Amsterdam or Dublin and travelled without any luggage.
They timed their return flights to Birmingham to coincide with flights from Cancun, Mexico, where a corrupt insider loaded suitcases full of drugs onto the UK-bound flight.
After landing, Kauser’s children headed to the Cancun baggage carousel where they collected suitcases that had been loaded unaccompanied onto the Mexico flight and were full of cocaine.
Kauser pleaded guilty to importing 180kilograms of cocaine at a previous hearing.
Her four eldest children admitted their roles in the conspiracy.
Her youngest son and daughter-in-law pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group.
They were all sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court apart from her youngest son who will be sentenced in October.
Rick Mackenzie, NCA senior investigating officer, said: “To her friends and people who thought they knew her, Farzana Kauser was a thoughtful, loving mum who seemed very normal.
“She led this crime group with dedication and determination, often instructing her children on how to smuggle the drugs effectively and on what techniques to employ.
“She pushed her children into huge danger and has allowed their futures to be effectively destroyed.”