The Home Affairs Minister authorised the scrapping this week.
The vehicle belonged to Daryl Richard France (28), who was sent behind bars for six-and-a-half years last month for the offence, which involved the importation of 87g of cocaine and almost 2kg of cannabis resin and herbal cannabis – something France argued he had been coerced into doing.
During his sentencing, the Royal Court heard that the import was intercepted at the Harbour when France and his girlfriend arrived via the Commodore Clipper on the evening of 25 January of this year.
Pictured: The drugs haul, estimated to be worth £94,000 on the street.
The couple travelled with their car and France told the Customs Officer who stopped the vehicle that he was “a self-employed tattoo artist [who] intended visiting local tattoo parlours trying to sell tattoo equipment and that they were staying in the island for just one night.”
The car was searched and, with the help of a drug detector dog, the drugs were eventually found after an X-ray revealed several packages stashed inside the vehicle’s spare wheel.
Since then, his car – a blue Ford Mondeo – has been in the custody of Customs and Immigration officials, who this month gained permission to scrap the trafficking vehicle.
The Acting Assistant Director of Frontiers made an application to dispose of it last week.
Pictured: France was sentenced in the Royal Court.
“The Mondeo was first registered in June 2005 and has in excess of 113,000 miles on the odometer. The vehicle is in poor condition throughout. A representative of Driver and Vehicle Standards has attended and examined the vehicle and provided the opinion that it is worth less than £200,” a report explaining the disposal request made under the Customs and Excise Law said.
The application was signed off by the Home Affairs Minister, Constable Len Norman, on Monday.
The vehicle has not yet been sent to the scrapyard, but is expected to be in the near future.