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More on KentOnline
A trucker bound for Kent with nearly £1.4 million of high purity cocaine hidden under his bed has been jailed.
Yuriy Vasilev’s cabin was searched in the UK control zone of the Channel Tunnel terminal at Coquelles in France, when Border Force officers unveiled 17 vacuum packed wraps of the Class A drug.
Vasilev denied any knowledge of the contraband however, a jury unanimously convicted the father-of-two after three-and-a-half hours of deliberation.
Recorder Barry Kogan jailed the 50-year-old, who became visibly upset in the hearing, for 12 years at Canterbury Crown Court.
The court heard a Border Force officer pulled over Vasilev’s Bulgarian-registered vehicle at around 6.45pm on July 14 last year.
X-Ray scans revealed a suspicious void underneath a mattress inside the cabin, prosecutors said.
When another officer pulled back a wooden board - attached with 15 fake screws - £1.36m of the Class A drug were revealed inside a six-inch deep compartment.
Arrested and interviewed at Canterbury Police Station, Vasilev, with the aid of an interpreter, would claim he bought the cab in Holland near Rotterdam for 40,000 Euros a year-and-a-half before.
He told National Crime Agency (NCA) officers he had picked up 24 pallets of paper in Dusseldorf, Germany, and has then travelled into Holland and through Belgium.
He added he took breaks driving through Belgium but locked the cab each time he left.
When officers asked if he had any knowledge of the drugs Vasilev replied: "No."
With the suspect remanded in custody, NCA officers probed the vehicle as the drugs were analysed.
Asked in court about the void inside the cabin, the officer said: “Within the concealment area there were three batons, the long screws went into the concealment area, the other screws were for cosmetic reasons.
”The jury heard the assortment of shrink-wrapped packages stamped with logos of an apple, shark and the letters ‘zzz’ contained purities of 85%, 83% and 61%.
Meanwhile the officer's investigation revealed the lorry belonged to Trans EOODM LTD, a freight firm owned by Vasilev registered in Pernik, Bulgaria.
Vasilev, of Westbury Avenue, North London and represented by Gordon Ross, had denied importation of a Class A controlled drug.
Martin Grace, branch commander at the NCA, said: “There is a high criminal demand for cocaine in the UK, and the international organised crime groups who supply it need corrupt lorry drivers like Vasilev to do their dirty work for them.
“Intercepting these drugs directly impacts the groups behind the importations - costing them money, disrupting their activities and damaging their reputation.
“This was a great detection by our Border Force colleagues. The illicit drug trade is a key driver behind the gang violence and exploitation we see on UK streets, which is why we, along with partners like Border Force, are determined to do all we can to stop drugs at source and protect the public.”
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