A drug smuggler flew in £2.5 million worth of high grade cocaine from Holland before it was stuffed into Sports Direct bags, a court has heard.

John Buwalda, 52, is alleged to have landed a small Piper Alpha aircraft at Rochester Airport in June this year.

He put the 22kgs of drugs in a 'wing weights' box and took it to a Holiday Inn where he met fellow smuggler Jan Polak, 61, a jury heard.

But Polak was being watched by officers from the Organised Crime Partnership and was arrested outside on his way to his Renault Kangoo with 22 separate packets of the drug.

The car had been specially adapted with an electronically operated hiding place behind the front seats of the van, the Old Bailey was told.

Officers then used a master key to get into Buwalda's room, where he was caught with his trousers down.

Buwalda was on the toilet when the police charged in, it is alleged.

Polak had been seen hanging around in a nearby car park for more than two hours before Buwalda landed, the jury heard.

Prosecutor Ailsa Williamson said: "Analysis of the contents revealed 22 separate packages found to contain 22 kilos of cocaine with a purity between 80 and 87 percent.

"A search of the Renault revealed a sophisticated built-in concealment behind the seats in the front of the van, hidden behind a false bulk head and operated electronically" - Prosecutor Ailsa Williamson

"The wholesale value of the cocaine is £726,000, but if it were to be cut with other substances and sold on the streets it would be worth around £2.5 million.

"A search of the Renault revealed a sophisticated built-in concealment behind the seats in the front of the van, hidden behind a false bulk head and operated electronically."

Ms Williamson said Polak denied any knowledge of the drugs and claimed he was working as a courier to earn an extra £300 - despite telling them he earned nearly £50,000 a year as a marketing director for a skincare company.

She said that he had met a white man called Timmy, who had brought £400 worth of cosmetics for him and asked if he would do a 'favour' for money.

Buwalda told police that he worked for a company that trained Chinese dentists in European practises, and was hoping to network with people at Greenwich University in south-east London.

Ms Williamson said: "Buwalda stated the trolley he pulled from the airport, through the terminal and all the way to the hotel contained wing weights."

Wing weights are large hollow boxes that are hung from the wings of parked planes to prevent the wind from getting under the wings.

Ms Williamson added: "He said the reason for bringing them into the hotel, rather than leaving them with the aircraft, was because he liked to show off and look the part of the pilot.

"Buwalda denied he used the wing weights to conceal the drugs."

Police found plastic gloves in his hotel room, along with a phone, which Buwalda claimed he found in the corridor.

Polak, wearing glasses and a cream jumper, and Buwalda, wearing a grey pin-stripe suit and a burgundy tie remained silent throughout the hearing, except to confirm their names.

At the Old Bailey this morning, NCA officer Jim McMorrow said: "We went up to room 223 and I knocked on the door saying we were the police.

"There was no answer, so I used the master key, which the manager had given me, to enter the room.

"It was empty, but I could hear noises coming from the bathroom.

"We opened the door, and found Mr Buwalda sitting on the toilet, wearing a white top with his trousers around his knees.

"I told him we had arrested a man downstairs who gave us this room number as the room of the man who had given him the drugs."

Mr McMorrow told the jury that Buwalda claimed to have flown in from Hilversum Airport that morning but with his limited English could not answer any more questions or understand what was happening.

Buwalda, a Dutch national was arrested on suspicion of of being concerned with the supply of class-A drugs.

Polak, or Borehamwood, Herts, and Buwalda of Hilversum, Holland, both deny one count of conspiracy to fraudulently evade the prohibition of class-A drugs.

The trial continues.