On-the-run Channel Tunnel heroin smuggler Mimoun Bounaouara jailed for 20 years
by Dan Bloom
A coach driver caught at the Channel Tunnel with heroin worth
£4million has been jailed for 20 years.
But Mimoun Bounaouara is not exactly behind bars - as he has
been on the run since mid-way through his trial.
Police in Kent and across Europe have been searching for the
28-year-old since he called his sister as a witness in his trial,
held in August at Canterbury Crown Court.
Judge Michael O'Sullivan said: "The matter was adjourned
overnight but
she and the defendant disappeared that evening."
Bounaouara could now be in Holland, as he is a Dutch national,
or in
Morocco where he has been previously.
The trial heard Bounaouara, who worked for a Dutch coach firm,
asked his bosses if he could borrow a coach for personal use last
July.
He told them he was going to France, but instead boarded a
Channel Tunnel train to Folkestone.
He was stopped by UK Border Agency staff at the tunnel on August
1 last year.
They found the suitcase, which contained 59kg of white powder
including heroin with a street value of £4m, and arrested him.
The judge said: "Phones were found in the coach and messages
showed he was to supply a suitcase. Conversations showed he had
been pestered for money."
Mimoun Bounaouara was
convicted in his absence at Canterbury Crown Court
Bounaouara was paid €5,000 to make the trip - a tiny amount
compared to the value of the heroin, the court heard.
The judge admitted he was not the ringleader, but said: "He
played a
leading role in this importation. Without his input this
importation wouldn't have taken place."
Bounaouara was found guilty in his absence and an international
arrest warrant was issued for him on November 16.
Jailing him for 20 years, Judge O'Sullivan said: "He is not
here to be told that he will serve half of that sentence in
custody.
"His background is in Morocco. Maybe he has returned to that
country, but for the moment the Dutch police have a warrant,
they're still searching for him, and they have been unsuccessful in
effecting his arrest."
20/12/12
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