A truck driver has been convicted of smuggling more than £7 million worth of cocaine hidden in a vehicle containing a consignment of Skims underwear and Kim Kardashian’s clothing, Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said in a statement.
The agency said Polish national Jakub Jan Konkel, 40, was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday, following a National Crime Agency investigation.
It said: “On September 5 last year, Konkel was stopped by Border Police officers at the port of Harwich in Essex as he arrived on a ferry from Hoek van Holland, the Netherlands.”
X-rays were taken of his truck, which was carrying 28 pallets of Skims clothing. The cargo was completely legitimate and neither the exporter nor the importer were involved in the smuggled cargo. However, the truck had been specially modified and a skin had been added to the skin of the rear doors of the trailer.
The truck had been specially modified and a skin had been added to the skin of the rear doors of the trailer.
It contained 90 parcels containing 1kg of cocaine each, with a street value of around £7.2 million.
Konkel’s tachograph showed a 16-minute stop that he had not reported to the NCA during the interview. It is believed the drugs were loaded into the vehicle with only the knowledge of him and the crime group.
Konkel, from Kartuzy in northern Poland, initially denied knowing anything about the class A drugs but eventually pleaded guilty to drug smuggling and admitted agreeing to smuggle the drugs for a payment of 4,500 euros.
