Man caught in 'major lapse of judgement' at Manchester Airport

A ‘law abiding and honest’ man turned to crime after finding himself in ‘desperate straits’. Marcus Montoya lost his job, home and partner within the space of a few months.

In what he later admitted was a ‘major lapse of judgement’, Montoya, an American citizen, agreed to try and smuggle cannabis into the UK, Manchester Crown Court heard. If successful, he would have been paid $6,000 on his return to the US.

Montoya was caught at Manchester Airport with 33 kilos of the drug, worth £200,000, after arriving at Terminal one and being stopped by Border Force. He is now locked up in a British jail, awaiting a decision from the Home Office about his possible deportation following his release.

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Prosecuting, April Lamai told how Montoya had arrived in Manchester from Munich in Germany, having originally boarded a flight from California. His two suitcases were examined by Border Force officers and were found to contain a series of vacuum wrapped packages.

It was later confirmed that they contained 33.42 kilos of the class B drug. Montoya told the officer that he had travelled to Manchester for a friend’s wedding.

He said that he’d packed the suitcases himself and confirmed that they were his. His lawyer later said he was told to say this to ‘allay suspicion’.

But Montoya admitted that he knew the suitcases contained cannabis, although he later said he didn’t know how much. He refused to give police the PIN number to his mobile phone.

Defending, Steven Sullivan said that Montoya has never been in trouble with the police in the UK or his native America before. He said that Montoya had suffered ‘three significant body blows’ over the past year.

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