£2m cocaine haul found in Lidl bags inside lorry near Channel Tunnel
More than £2million worth of cocaine was seized from a lorry near the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone, Kent.
Some 50kg of the Class A drug was found inside Lidl shopping bags in a HGV carrying freight near the A20 road.
Officers were alerted to lorry after finding a cash counter on the back seat of a nearby Renault Kangoo van at around 10am on Thursday May 21.
A clip of the seizure shows patrollers pulling up behind a grey curtain-sided lorry, which had tried to move off as the other van was being searched, before entering its trailer.
After removing the curtains to find several large crates, an officer is heard asking his colleague: ‘What’s in the blue bags?’
The trademark blue and yellow Lidl shopping bags were found to contain several large block-shaped packages.
The officer is then heard radioing for help as the lorry driver attempts to flee the scene.
Dzmitry Danilah, the 36-year-old Belarusian lorry driver and Klodian Marku, a 25-year-old Albanian living in south London were both charged with importing cocaine.
They both appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on Wednesday, where Danilah was handed a nine-year prison sentence, while Marku was given eight years behind bars.
DC Molly Harrington said: ‘This is an extremely large seizure and is a result that was based entirely on the keen eye and intuition of our local officers. Disrupting such a large number of drugs from entering the market will have a significant impact on those behind this organised crime.
‘The removal of dangerous substances will also crucially help prevent harm in our communities.’
Technology & Business Editor
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