A gang member involved in an airport luggage switching scam that saw tens of millions of pounds of cocaine being smuggled into the UK was caught when he tried to pass drugs under a table in Burger King.

Mark Agoro was part of a 12 strong gang based in the UK involved in a 'phenomenally lucrative' plot that saw hundreds of kilos of cocaine pass through Heathrow Airport.

Drug laden suitcases were flown into Heathrow Airport from Brazil and were moved from the international arrivals carousel to the domestic arrivals hall to avoid security checks.

The group are all being sentenced at a hearing taking place at Southwark Crown Court this week.

Corrupt staff in Brazil loaded bricks of ‘unadulterated cocaine’ into ‘ordinary bags’ stored in the plane’s hold

They were then flown into Heathrow Airport from Brazil and were moved from the international arrivals carousel to the domestic arrivals hall to avoid security checks.

Agoro, 51, of Chafford Hundred, Essex, who was one of the men who managed the couriers and got them to the correct airports and tell them what time the luggage would be expected.

He was arrested in 2015 in connection with a separate conspiracy when he was caught handing across 141 grams of cocaine underneath a table at a Burger King in King's Cross.

The court heard one of the ringleaders Joysen Jhurry, 41, was a baggage handler working at Heathrow and was helped by his brother-in-law, Preetam Mungrah, 44, and other crooked handlers at Terminal 5 including Damion Goodhall, 30, and Wilfred Owusu, 30.

Owusu organised couriers including Danovan Bull, 45, and Moses Awopetu, 38, and Agoro to fly in and collect the luggage and walk away without any customs checks, Southwark Crown Court heard.

How they did it: The drug smuggling ring's operation transporting cocaine from Brazil to the UK

Mark Agoro, left and Joysen Jhurry (right) were part of the 12 strong gang being sentenced at Southwark Crown Court

Michael Sutherland, 48, was also 'high up' in the plot, organising couriers and 'therefore involved in the onward distribution of cocaine'.

Leiona Townshend-Bartley, 32, Francisca Archer, 26, Aziz Abdul, 37, and Mohammad Ali, 41, had lesser roles as couriers or helpers.

Tim Probert-Wood, prosecuting, said: 'It is proper organised crime. And when it works it is phenomenally lucrative.

'High purity cocaine from Rio went through Terminal 5 at Heathrow, the drugs were concealed on British Airways flights in normal luggage.

Danovan Ball (left) who admitted possession of class A drugs with intent to supply in 2016 and was sentenced to six years in prison and Damion Goodhall (right)

'The importation both in Brazil and this country was facilitated by the use of corrupt baggage handlers.

'It was on the most serious and commercial scale and despite continual disruption when bags were lost, the conspiracy prospered for some 15 months and was still going strong at the time of arrests.'

Cocaine was intercepted on six occasions by the National Crime Agency and a total of 101 kilos of cocaine was seized.

The street value was £16m but 'there were undoubtedly other occasions when it is reasonable to infer and believe that cocaine was successfully smuggled into the country,' the prosecutor said.

Moses Awopetu (left) who admitted conspiracy to import Class A drugs, and Preetam Mungrah (right)

These other occasions mean the cash flow would have 'run into the tens of millions of pounds.'

Corrupt staff in Brazil loaded bricks of 'unadulterated cocaine' into ordinary bags stored in the plane's hold.

Crooked workers in the UK were then sent photos and descriptions of thr bags to look out for through Blackberry Messenger.

Rather than join the rest of the luggage going through security on the international arrivals carousel, bags were 'ripped off' and placed on the domestic arrivals carousel before being collected.

Wilfred Owusu (left) Aziz Abdul (right)

'If you think about it, the obvious reason for doing this is because security at domestic arrivals is far, far less,' said Mr Probert-Wood.

'There is no customs, no immigration, you just pick up your bag and there you go.

'It was far, far less and so much easier to do that.

'Mr Jhurry and his crew would be waiting as a result of the information that had been communicated to them,' Mr Probert-Wood said.

'They would identify the relevant container and remove the relevant bag from the container and take it to the domestic arrivals carousel.'

There were couriers who would arrive from Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen into Terminal 5 at the same time as the Rio flights and pick up bags in the arrivals hall.

Surveillance showing Joysen Jhurry (right) and Damion Goodhall (left)

Jhurry and Ali, along with a team of other BA baggage handlers, were ready to 'rip off' luggage from planes and take them to the domestic carousels.

They had fobs which granted them access to air-side and they were also able to get into baggage trucks and drive across the runways.

Townshend-Bartley and Awopetu worked as couriers, disembarking from domestic flights at the right time and picking up the luggage in arrivals.

Agoro, Goodhall, Owusu, Sutherland and Abdul managed the couriers and their job was to get them to the correct airports and tell them what time the luggage would be expected.

When consignments were intercepted the gang held meetings to discuss what went wrong.

Jhurry called Mungrah after police intercepted a bag filled with 129 packages of coke and said 'Big f—-k up, big f—-k up.'

The police swooped on 15 December 2016 and were able to catch almost all of the gang in coordinated strikes that day.

When Jhurry was arrested by police they asked if he was expecting them, he replied, 'No, but I'm glad you have come, it's a relief to be honest - I am glad it's all over.'

He claimed to be in fear of his life after a cartel in South America threatened to kill him.

But Jhurry, of Banstead, Surrey, along with Goodhall, of Tooting, south London, admitted conspiracy to import class A drugs.

Agoro, 51, of Chafford Hundred, Essex, Aziz Abdul, 37, and Awopetu, of no fixed address, also admitted the charge.

Danovan Bull, of Clapham, admitted possession of class A drugs with intent to supply at Isleworth Crown Court in January 2016 and was sentenced to six years in prison

Sutherland, of South Norwood, Croydon, Archer, of Stamford Hill, north London, Townsend-Bartley, of Camberwell, Ali, of Slough and Kufour, of Bedford, all denied conspiring to import cocaine but were convicted in February after a three month trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Mungrah, of Thornton Heath, south London, and Wilfred Owusu, 30, of Stoke Newington, north London, were convicted of organising the importation of consignments after an eight week trial at Kingston Crown Court last October.

Judge Michael Hopmeier is due to hand down a sentence to the 12 strong gang by the end of this week.