Channel Tunnel cocaine smuggler jailed for nine years

A lorry driver who tried to smuggle 40kg (88lb) of cocaine into the UK through the Channel Tunnel has been jailed for nine years.

Vladimar Mrdak, from Serbia, was stopped by UK Border Force officers at Coquelles in France on 12 July.

The drugs, which police said would have been worth £3.2m, were found amongst a load of bottle tops and paper rolls.

Mrdak, 37, admitted attempting to import Class A drugs, and was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday.

Branch commander Mark Howes of the National Crime Agency said: "Organised crime groups rely on people like Mrdak to feed supplies of lethal Class A drugs to the UK, so this intervention would have dealt them a blow.

"The trade in cocaine is synonymous with exploitation and violence, and this seizure would have dented the profits of those who poison our communities by distributing it."

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