LONDON: A defence worker who tried to smuggle heroin from Afghanistan into Britain was jailed on Thursday for five years, British customs authorities said.

British Royal Air Force police stopped and searched Michael Doig, 24, as he prepared to board a flight from Kandahar in southern Afghanistan in June.

About one kg of heroin with an estimated street value of 46,500 pounds ($90,150) was found in his luggage. He was escorted back to Britain and arrested for attempting to import the narcotic.

The electrician, who was stationed in Kandahar for more than two years and worked for US defence contractor KBR, pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle heroin at Uxbridge Magistrates Court in west London last month. Doig, from Tillicoultry, near Stirling, central Scotland, was sentenced at nearby Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday, said Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, which brought the prosecution.—AFP