Man had heroin hidden in kids' balloons and gloves delivered to his door....he said he 'thought it was Viagra'

A man 'conspired with others' to import heroin from Pakistan into the UK hidden in children's helium balloons and gloves.

Akhlaq Muhammad, 43, claimed he was asked to accept deliveries of Viagra, and unwittingly found himself at the centre of a multi-million pound drugs conspiracy, a court was told.

Muhammad said he did not know what he had got himself into as deliveries of heroin then arrived at his home, hidden within seemingly legitimate deliveries of gardening gloves, a coffee machine and the balloons, a judge heard. The court was told deliveries were seized at airports including Manchester.

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Lancashire Police said he was charged with conspiracy to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug on advice from the Crown Prosecution Service and pleaded guilty. The guilty plea was submitted on the basis that he knew he was acting illegally, but did so under threat, reports Lancs Live.

He said he tried to end his involvement when he found out drugs were involved, but claimed he received threats both to himself and to his elderly mother and disabled brother in Pakistan.

At Preston Crown Court Muhammad, of Whitebirk Road, Blackburn, was jailed for six years.

Lancashire Police said after the sentencing hearing that between March 2021 and September 2022, its investigation found Muhammad 'conspired with others in Pakistan, Dubai and Birmingham' to import £1.5million of heroin into Blackburn.

He's said to have used variations of his name and 11 packages of heroin with a combined weight of 23 kilograms were delivered to properties including his own.

Police said they searched his home and found a 'burner