By IANS,
London : Former England all-rounder Chris Lewis is being tried in a court here for allegedly smuggling 140,000 pound worth of cocaine into Britain inside his cricket bag.
Jurors were told that the 41-year-old ex-cricketer was stopped by customs officers at Gatwick airport and found with the drug hidden in liquid form in five tins of fruit and vegetable juice, stashed in his kit bag, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Lewis was on his way back from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia in December, where he told officials he had been visiting family.
As well as the tins, border officials discovered a cannabis grinder and a paperback book containing Rizla papers which both tested positive for traces of marijuana, it is alleged.
When questioned at Gatwick, Lewis, who was also carrying a Prada “man bag”, said he had packed the luggage himself and was not carrying anything for anyone else.
But when told his luggage had tested positive for cocaine, he asked: “Could there be some mistake?” before answering no questions during interviews, Croydon Crown Court heard.
The cricketer was allegedly smuggling the cocaine alongside associate Chad Kirnon, 27, who was found with three tins of dissolved cocaine in his luggage, it was claimed.