An Italian lorry driver who attempted to smuggle class A drugs worth around £2.5 million into the UK has been jailed for nine and a half years.

Salvatore De Pasquale, 35, of Messina in Sicily, was stopped by Border Force officers at Dover Eastern Docks as he arrived on a ferry from Calais during the early hours of Saturday October 5.

His HGV was carrying a load of perfume bottles bound for Exeter.

During the search of his cab a secret compartment was found underneath a bunk bed, lined with lead and glass in an attempt to prevent detection by scanning equipment.

Around 40 taped packages were found concealed in the compartment. They tested positive for heroin and cocaine.

The investigation was taken on by the National Crime Agency’s Border Policing Command.

Forensic checks were carried out on the packages which revealed that they contained 48 kilos of cocaine and around 2 kilos of heroin. The cocaine was around 80 per cent pure and the combined load would have had a UK street value of approximately £2.5 million.

De Pasquale was arrested and admitted he was expecting to be paid around £10,000 for transporting the drugs, which he believed to be cannabis.

He pleaded guilty to drug importation charges and at a hearing at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday he was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.

Malcolm Bragg, from the NCA’s Border Policing Command, said: “This case demonstrates that the penalties for those who would attempt to bring class A drugs into the UK are severe.

“This load was worth millions of pounds and working with our Border Force colleagues the NCA is determined to tackle those responsible for trafficking illegal drugs into theUK, causing terrible damage to our communities.”

Paul Morgan, Director of Border Force South East and Europe, said: “We welcome the sentence handed out in this case. Working with our colleagues at the NCA, Border Force is at the forefront of the fight to stop drugs entering the UK.”

The NCA is a new law enforcement agency that has been tasked with leading the UK’s fight to cut serious and organised crime.

Its Border Policing Command has over 300 officers at major ports, investigating detections of drugs, firearms, cash and other non-fiscal crime made by Border Force. The BPC also has an extensive overseas network of around 120 officers in 40 locations around the world.