Man jailed after drugs worth £11m found in machine
Border Force found cocaine and heroin concealed in an air compressor at a port in North Lincolnshire
- Published
A man has been jailed for 14 years after £11m worth of Class A drugs were found hidden in an air compressor.
Ryan King, 38, of Tollerton Road, West Derby, Liverpool, was part of an organised crime group that tried to smuggle 159lbs (72kg) of cocaine and 112lbs (51kg) of heroin into the UK in March 2022.
The drugs were found at Killingholme Port, near Grimsby, after arriving in an unmanned trailer from the Hook of Holland.
King was due to go on trial but was sentenced at Hull Crown Court on Tuesday after he changed his plea to guilty.
Ryan King pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court and was jailed for 14 years
King pleaded guilty to two counts of the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug.
His DNA was found on the drugs packages and a tracker by National Crime Agency officers.
King was arrested at Liverpool John Lennon Airport in December 2022 when he returned from Alicante.
Ryan King's DNA was found on the drugs packages
NCA operations manager Carl Barrass said: "The loss of those drugs and the loss of King damages the crime group behind the smuggling attempt.
"They have lost a huge amount of money which cannot now be ploughed back into further offending, and the drug seizure means they will not be pushed around our communities causing misery."
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