Border Force officials have stopped an attempt to smuggle cocaine through to be worth £1.2 million.

Officers on Tuesday stopped and searched a Lithuanian-registered lorry, finding packages concealed within the floor of the vehicle.

The contents of the packages tested positive for cocaine. The drugs weighed approximately 20 kilos and have a potential estimated street level value of £1.2 million.

This was at the inward freight controls of Dover Eastern Docks.
Paul Morgan, director of Border Force South East and Europe said: “This was an excellent detection.

“ Results like this demonstrate the vital work Border Force officers are doing on the front line to keep dangerous Class A drugs off the streets of the UK, where they cause significant harm to individuals and communities.

“Every year Border Force officers operating at the UK border seize Class A drugs worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

“Working with law enforcement partners like the NCA (National Crime Agency) we are determined to prevent drug trafficking and to bring those responsible to justice.”

A Lithuanian national, Mindaugus Antanavicius, 38, was arrested and the investigation passed to the NCA. He was later charged with attempted drugs importation.

Antanavicius, of no fixed UK address, appeared at Folkestone Magistrates Court yesterday.

He withheld his plea and was remanded in custody until his next appearance, at Canterbury Crown Court, on Wednesday, December 20.