Lancashire mother and son jailed for cocaine smuggling plot
They plotted to smuggle 14 kilos of cocaine into the UK from the Dominican Republic
A mother and her son have been jailed for plotting to smuggle 14 kilos of cocaine into the UK.
Amanda Meadowcroft, 53, from Darwen, Lancashire, was stopped by Border Force officers at Manchester Airport in April 2025.
She was already serving a suspended sentence for a previous smuggling conviction.
Meadowcroft was arrested alongside another woman who was found with £294,000 worth of cocaine in her luggage.
Analysis of mobile phones seized revealed how Meadowcroft conspired with her son, Bradley Couzins, 34, to bring drugs into the country.
Text messages showed Couzins to be the 'mastermind' of the plan.
He sorted out his mother's flights (to and from the Dominican Republic) and arranged for people to pick up the cocaine.
After Meadowcroft's arrest, her son tried to avoid being arrested by moving but he was found in Blackpool in August.
He tried to destroy his phone whilst being arrested with his handcuffs, but failed and instead injured an officer.
Both pleaded guilty to importing cocaine, with Couzins admitting to assaulting a National Crime Agency officer.
Meadowcroft has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Couzins has been sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.
Charles Lee, NCA Senior Investigation Officer, said: “This criminal family went to great lengths to source and smuggle class A drugs into the UK."
The woman arrested with Meadowcroft was released with no further action.