A van driver has been jailed after £12 million in drugs were found in another vehicle.

Law enforcement officers believe he had placed them there.

Abraham Schrier was sentenced to 16 years this week after the haul was found at the Channel Tunnel terminal in Folkestone.

On June 10 this year another van, a Belgian-registered white Renault Master, was stopped before boarding a train from France to the UK.

That driver told Border Force officers he was going to Ashford for one night and then going back to the continent.

Border Force officers found packages of heroin and cocaine concealed within the side panels of the vehicle.

A total 74 kg of heroin and 128 kg of cocaine was recovered.

Forensic experts from the National Crime Agency (NCA), which investigated, believe the amount of these class A drugs would have had an approximate UK street value of more than £12 million.

Half an hour later a second van was stopped, driven by Schrier, 61, from Goes in the Netherlands.

He also said he was travelling to Ashford for one night.

No drugs were discovered in his vehicle, but an electric drill set, socket and bolts were found, matching those recovered from the panelling on the first van.

This indicated Schrier had been involved in concealing the drugs, the NCA stressed.

Schrier initially denied this during interviews with investigators but he was charged with importing class A drugs.

He was found guilty on Wednesday, December 21, after an eight-day trial, at Canterbury Crown Court.

The driver of the Renault van, Marius Verschueren, 69, from the Borgerhout area of Antwerp in Belgium, was found not guilty.

NCA Dover branch Commander Mark Howes said after the court hearing: “The evidence we were able to provide showed that Schrier was a key component in this importation.

“This was a significant seizure of class A drugs which would have ended up in the hands of the type of street gangs directly involved violence and exploitation in our communities.

“Schrier may have been one step removed from those gangs, but his part shouldn’t be diminished. Couriers like him are vital to the business model of the organised crime networks involved in international drug trafficking.

“It is the NCA’s job to target and disrupt those upstream networks, and working with partners like Border Force we are determined to do all we can to stop them.”

Martin Coates, Border Force deputy director, said: “Drugs are a plague to our society, fuelling violence on the street,s which communities across the UK are forced to endure.

“This seizure demonstrates the close cooperation between Border Force and the NCA, preventing harmful substances from entering our communities while reassuring the public that we will always remain committed to keeping them safe from the despicable illegal smuggling of dangerous drugs.”