A Romanian coach driver who smuggled a multi-million pound haul of Class A drugs into the country on a coach full of schoolchildren has been jailed for 17 years.

Ioan Buciuta, 53, admitted the offence after the high purity drugs were found in a concealed compartment at Dover Docks in June last year.

His brother Gheorge Buciuta, 34, denied the charge, claiming he knew nothing about the illicit cargo, and was acquitted by a jury in November.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Border Agency officers searched the coach with 43 passengers - which was taking children on a school trip to London - after it arrived at Eastern Docks on a ferry from Dunkirk.

A sniffer dog showed interest in the front wheel arch. The secret compartment which was accessible through the luggage hold was then discovered.

Prosecutor Daniel Stevenson said there was a dashboard switch which opened and closed the compartment and could only be operated when the engine was running.

"Access to the compartment could only be made by someone who had the ignition keys," he said.

Officers seized 130 kilos of cocaine at 73 per cent purity and one kilo of heroin at 61 per cent, which together was worth about £5 million wholesale, but when cut down and sold on the street the value increased to as much as £18 million.

The court heard the brothers had driven to the UK weekly, taking tourists to London. The route was from Romania, through Hungary, Austria, Germany and Brussels, before heading to Dunkirk.

“In all likelihood the drugs were loaded in Brussels while passengers were sightseeing,” said Mr Stevenson.

Gheorge Buciuta claimed he and his brother drove to a coach park in north east Brussels but his tachograph told a different story.

It showed they made a 30 kilometre round trip to a service station to the west of the city, where it was thought the drugs were put on the coach.

Christopher Whitehouse, defending, said Buciuta was to be paid 5,000 Euros, which he planned to use to pay off a loan shark.

Judge Philip Statmam told Buciuta when passing sentence today: "Those involved in the smuggling of drugs play for high stakes.

"Cocaine and heroin are pernicious drugs which bring devastation to the lives of those who use them. The market in the UK for drugs of this kind is such that enormous profits can be made from the onward sale of such consignments.

"It therefore follows that when individuals such as yourself are caught exemplary sentences become appropriate."

The judge added that Buciuta was close to the original source of the drugs and played a leading role.

After sentencing, Matt Rivers, from the National Crime Agency's Dover border investigation team, said: "Ioan Buciuta was a trusted courier, comfortable with the task of carrying millions of pounds of class A drugs across a continent.

"The fact he was happy to do so using the cover of a children's school trip shows how cynical his criminal organisation is.

"Our close co-operation with our law enforcement colleagues both at home and abroad means we have been able to intercept a substantial quantity of class A drugs destined for London and beyond, and cause major disruption to the organised crime group behind this attempt."

Paul Morgan, Director of Border Force South East and Europe, added: "Every year Border Force officers seize hundreds of million of pounds of Class A drugs.

"Working with law enforcement colleagues like the NCA we are determined to prevent drug trafficking and put those responsible behind bars.

"This is another example of how our officers have prevented dangerous class A drugs from ending up on the streets of the UK."

Following a trial at the same court in November Ioan’s brother Gheorghe, 36, was cleared of importation charges in connection with the same seizure.