A Kent man has been jailed after a police stop turned up five kilograms of cocaine.

Robert Beckley from Church Road, West Malling, was handed a sentence of four years and four months in prison on Thursday at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

The 31-year-old was one of three men caught in a police operation, with officers watching the trio's every move.

On October 6, Lazarus Loizides, of Chelmsford, was seen parking a white van in Redbridge outside the home of co-defendant Joe Sawyer.

He then got into Sawyer’s vehicle with a blue holdall, which he put on the back seats before they drove off.

Sawyer, 26, later returned and got into the rear of the white van with another holdall, which he left in the van before returning to his vehicle and driving home.

Nearly an hour and a half later, Beckley arrived in a black van and parked in Mr Sawyer's close.

Sawyer saw him pull up, moved the white van up the road and parked three cars in front of Beckley’s.

Sawyer got out with the blue holdall and went to the front passenger seat of Beckley’s van, handing over the blue bag. Beckley then left.

Beckley, in his vehicle, was followed by officers onto the M25 where he was stopped by marked cars.

The blue holdall was still in the passenger foot well and inside, officers found 5kgs of cocaine.

Later searching the white van, officers found 24 one-kilo bricks of the illicit powder in a Sports Direct bag.

A deeper search uncovered a concealed hide under the rear floor, which contained a further 17 one-kilo bricks of cocaine.

In total, the operation resulted in 49kg of cocaine being seized - worth an estimated street value of almost £6million.

All three men were charged on the day of the operation with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (cocaine).

Loizides was further charged with possession of criminal property in relation to £55,000 cash seized.

All three pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court on November 25, 2020.

Loizides got the largest sentence of 11 years' imprisonment, while Sawyer was handed an eight-year prison sentence.

Detective Chief Inspector Driss Hayoukane, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “The lengths these men went to try and conceal their criminal activities by having secret hides in their cars is not something an everyday person would even think to consider – but then again most everyday person wouldn’t even consider transporting almost 50kg of cocaine in their vehicles.

“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, we are committed to putting handcuffs on those involved in drugs supply offences and making sure that they spend a significant amount of time in prison.”

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