A driver caught with 12 kilos of cannabis worth £180,000 in his van has been jailed.

Officers uncovered 12 vacuum-packed bags of the Class B drug when they stopped Julian Muca, 25, near Ashford.

Muca, of no fixed address, has since admitted possession of cannabis with intent to supply and was jailed for 15 months at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday December 1.

Officers from Tactical Operations spotted the Ford Transit between junctions 8 and 9 of the M20 on the afternoon of Wednesday October 14.

The vehicle had been linked to drug dealing in the area and was stopped and searched in Chart Road after it exited the motorway.

Each of the 12 bags found inside contained a kilogram of cannabis, giving each bag a street value of around £15,000.

Muca declined to give any information about where the drugs had come from or where they were being transported to.

PC Harry Russell, Kent Police's investigating officer, said: "Good work from our officers on the day of Muca's arrest has seen a large amount of an illegal drug removed from circulation.

"The money that would have been made from the sale of these drugs to users in Kent would have benefited a criminal enterprise and led to more crime in the future.

"Kent Police is determined to shut down and disrupt the activities of drugs networks and, as this case shows, jail sentences await those who get involved."

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