Keeping up with the cartels! £7m cocaine bust in truck carrying Kim Kardashian pants
A lorry driver has been jailed for smuggling more than £7m worth of cocaine into the UK hidden in a shipment of Kardashian’s Skims underwear.
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The driver, 40-year-old Polish national Jakub Jan Konkel, was found guilty of smuggling the drugs shipment in his lorry after being pulled aside by Border Force officers as he entered the UK at Port of Harwich in Essex.
The operation, which took place on September 5 last year, saw Konkel halted by agents as he arrived on a ferry from the Hook of Holland, The Netherlands.
The lorry driver was traveling in a heavy goods vehicle carrying 28 pallets of underwear and clothing from Kim Kardashian's clothing brand Skims, with the hidden load discovered after agents x-rayed the vehicle.
The lorry load of cocaine, hidden in the clothing, proved to be a legitimate shipment of items that neither the exporter nor the importer were connected to.
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However, agents discovered that the truck had been specially adapted to hide the drugs behind a skin built into the rear trailer doors.
Appearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday, Konkel was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison following a National Crime Agency investigation.
The NCA revealed that the truck used by Konkel contained 90 packages each containing 1kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of around £7.2m.
Konkel’s tachograph, the device in the cab's lorry tracking his driving, showed a 16-minute stop that he failed to declare to the NCA in interview.
It's believed that this was the window in which the drugs were loaded onto the vehicle with only his and the crime group’s knowledge.
Konkel, of Kartuzy in northern Poland, initially denied knowing anything about the Class A drugs, but eventually pleaded guilty to drug smuggling.
He eventually confessed to the crimes, having agreed to smuggle the illegal cargo for a payment of €4,500.
NCA operations manager Paul Orchard said: “Organised crime groups use corrupt drivers like Konkel to move Class A drugs often hidden on entirely legitimate loads such as this.
“The detection and investigation have removed a significant amount of cocaine whose profits are lost to the crime group behind the smuggling attempt, and with Konkel they’ve lost an important enabler.
“The NCA works with partners at home and abroad to protect the public from the threat of Class A drugs, which are at the epicentre of huge amounts of crime and suffering in UK communities.”
Border Force Assistant Director, Jason Thorn said: “These drugs destroy lives and inflict misery on our communities.
“This significant interception is testament to the brilliant work of Border Force, depriving criminal networks of millions in profit.
“We continue to work round the clock to relentlessly pursue criminality, protect our borders and keep these dangerous drugs off our streets.”