An events promoter has been found guilty for his part in Croydon's largest heroin deal.

Mylton Demetriou, a Croydon-based promoter, and another man, Sean Foster, were caught red-handed by police handing over two holdalls with £4million worth of the drug inside.

Police seized more than 50kgs of heroin in the operation in Thornton Heath.

Demetriou denied a charge of conspiracy to supply 54kgs of the drug but was found guilty at Croydon Crown Court.

Sean Foster, 37, from Sydenham had previously pleaded guilty to the charges.

Demetriou, 31, from Herne Hill, had originally denied the charges claiming that he thought that the bags had contained promotional flyers.

He said in court: "I hate drugs and I wouldn't get myself involved in carrying them. If I had known about the drugs in the holdalls I would have called the police."

Under cross-examination from the prosecution Demetriou admitted that had he opened the bag he would have realised that it was heroin and not flyers.

During the trial the court heard how Foster and Demetriou met in Frant Road, Thornton Heath, in October last year.

Foster drove to the rendezvous in his BMW whilst Demetriou met him shortly after in his VW.

Demetriou, who has an office in nearby Hampton Road, turned up in his VW, and two holdalls were transferred from Demetriou's car to Foster's vehicle.

The jury deliberated through the night and finally reached their guilty verdict yesterday morning.

Foster had already pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.