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If you were an international drug dealer, you might imagine that the hardest part of smuggling your wares back into the UK would be getting it onto the plane in the first place. But one drug trafficker has proved that perhaps the hardest part after all is remembering to pick it up after the flight.

That was exactly what happened recently at Heathrow airport, where £800,000 worth of cocaine was left in a suitcase on the luggage carousel.

The first that the UKBA (UK Border Agency) learnt of the haul was when they found out that a suitcase had been abandoned at the airport. They examined the luggage, and were surprised to find that it contained 20 kilograms of cocaine.

The identity of the trafficker is as yet unknown, but what is known is that the drug made its way from Mexico. It is surprising, however, that it managed to get all the way to the luggage collection at Heathrow.

So what happened? Did the passenger have a change of heart when he or she arrived in the UK? If so it was probably the most costly one of their life, and I’m sure there will be a fair bit of explaining to do. Or perhaps they just forgot it? We are all guilty of forgetting things at the airport, after all. But £800,000 worth of goods? That can't be too easy to leave behind by accident.

Anyway, the good news is that there are fewer drugs on our street as a result. No convictions have come about as yet, but a senior investigation officer for HMRC, Stuart Robinson, said that the “investigations into this matter are ongoing.”