Yahoo News Lorry driver smuggled £5.6m of cocaine through Killingholme
Police found three large holdalls crammed with cocaine worth £5.6million in a lorry driver's cab bunk bed, a court heard.
Pawel Perdoch, 39, from Poland admitted smuggling the Class A drugs into the UK after driving from Poland and leaving The Netherlands for Killingholme port.
At Grimsby Crown Court, prosecutor, Craig Lowe said police conducted a routine search of the cab and discovered 70kilos of cocaine in the three black holdalls on Wednesday July 17, this year.
READ MORE:Grimsby court list - Ten offenders named and shamed
READ MORE:Corporation Bridge to finally be uncovered after over a year
He said the drugs had a 91 per cent purity and when sold on the streets in the UK, they would have a value of £5.6million. Mr Lowe said the driver had a significant role in the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition of the drugs and expected financial advantage.
For Perdoch, David Godfrey said his client had been a long distance lorry driver for 17 years. He said he was highly regarded by family and friends. "He is a decent person who has done a stupid and foolish thing," he said.
He added his client apologised for what he has done and was transporting the narcotics for a modest sum of money. Mr Godfrey said: "He was taking all the risk for little reward."
Judge Paul Watson KC said: "I accept it was an isolated offence and unsophisticated. You were acting, to a degree, under direction." He jailed the lorry driver for nine years.
