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, 54, from Bradford, was today (Friday 18) jailed for 13 years and four months after a National Crime Agency investigation which found she also helped run an international crime group.

Kauser worked with an unidentified accomplice in Pakistan known as 'Uncle' to mastermind the smuggling of cocaine from Cancun in Mexico to the UK.

She showed no outward signs of running the UK side of the crime group, and even when she was arrested on 11 November 2024 at Birmingham Airport, claimed she was only there to collect her children.

Kauser was there to collect her children – but they were carrying 180kg of cocaine with a street value of around £14.4 million.

Some of it was due to be passed to a courier from another OCG, with the remainder taken back to Kauser's home on Waterlily Road in Manningham 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.

The suitcases were filled with cocaine (image via NCA)

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.

They had received photographs of the suitcases from an unidentified member of the crime group.

They were full of cocaine and had been loaded unaccompanied onto the Mexico flight. The family would then walk through customs as though returning with their own bags.

Kauser pleaded guilty to importing 180 kilograms 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 today apart from her youngest son who will be sentenced in October.

The cocaine had a street value of £14.4m (image via NCA)

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 was very well practised in her life as a high-end cocaine trafficker and she took great pains to delete any trail of evidence.

"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.

"Her youngest son was just 17 when he was encouraged to play a major role in couriering drugs into the country, drugs that wreck countless lives across the UK in their links to violence, addiction and other crimes.

"The NCA works side by side with partners at home and abroad to combat the threat Class A drugs pose to the UK."

Sarah Ingram from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "This was a sophisticated and well-planned operation to flood the UK with high-purity cocaine worth millions of pounds.

"What makes this case particularly concerning is the family nature of the conspiracy, with a mother recruiting her own children to participate in serious organised crime.

"The defendants thought they had devised a foolproof method to import drugs, but thanks to the vigilance and thorough investigation by the National Crime Agency and our prosecution, their criminal enterprise was brought to an end.

"By taking this organised crime group out of action, large amounts of drugs have been removed from circulation and can no longer reach our streets.

"This case demonstrates the commitment of the Crown Prosecution Service and law enforcement partners to disrupting drug supply chains and bringing those involved in serious organised crime to justice."