Staff at a homeless charity were stunned when they opened a packet of washing powder donated to them by Customs & Excise – and discovered it was packed with cannabis resin.
The sack was one of hundreds seized in a Customs raid and then donated to In Kind Direct, an organisation founded by the Prince of Wales to distribute unwanted goods to charities.
When seized, the sacks had concealed more than a ton of smuggled cannabis, and Customs officials believed a ‘thorough’ search – including X rays – had found it all.
But more than 20lb of cannabis resin was somehow overlooked in checks and the gaffe was discovered only when staff at a homeless charity in Liverpool began trying to use the powder and found the drugs.
No doubt only realised after one of the washing machines was seen flying around the room?