By Alex Pope, BBC News, Bedfordshire
A lorry driver who smuggled £19m of cocaine into the UK has been jailed for 20 years.
The drugs were discovered when the lorry was stopped at Toddington Services on the M1 in Bedfordshire in June last year.
Belgian national Ruidi Claes, 62, was found guilty at Luton Crown Court of importing 30 stones (190kg) of cocaine and supplying six stones (38kg) of the drug after he travelled from Belgium to Britain.
Det Insp Dean Trollope, from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU), said: “The onwards distribution of these drugs has been prevented, helping to keep our communities safe.”
ERSOU said Claes used his haulage company as cover for transporting the drugs and had travelled from Steenokkerzeel, Belgium, in June 2023, when he stopped at Toddington Services.
A car, driven by Ahmed Omar, 28, of Newcomen Road, in Leytonstone, east London, pulled up next to the lorry, before Claes removed two boxes from the trailer and loaded them into the vehicle.
Omar pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply and will be sentenced at a later date.
When ERSOU officers searched the trailer they found 25 stone (155kg) of cocaine stowed amongst a legitimate delivery of empty pharmaceutical insulation boxes.
A further six stones (36kg) of cocaine in pressed blocks was found in Omar’s car.
Police estimated the street value of the drugs to be £19.2m.
ERSOU said both men were trusted members of an international organised crime group and the blocks of cocaine were destined for onward supply within the UK.
Youth football teams and grassroots clubs across the country have held a minute’s silence at the start of their games to commemorate a 10-year-old girl who di
10-year-old Poppy Atkinson was killed when she was struck by a car during a training session at Kendal Rugby Club in Cumbria. Clubs from Leeds to London
The high court, sitting in Liverpool, heard Uefa had relied upon the principle that English courts will not inquire into the legality of actions by foreign gove
Caption: Alan Shearer?s Premier League predictions credit: Getty / Metro After some impressive results for English sides in Europe the focus is