Driver jailed for smuggling £19m of cocaine to UK

Ruidi Claes was jailed after a court hearing at Luton Crown Court

A lorry driver who smuggled £19m of cocaine into the UK has been jailed for 20 years.

The drugs were discovered when the lorry was stopped at Toddington Services on the M1 in Bedfordshire in June last year.

Belgian national Ruidi Claes, 62, was found guilty at Luton Crown Court of importing 30 stones (190kg) of cocaine and supplying six stones (38kg) of the drug after he travelled from Belgium to Britain.

Det Insp Dean Trollope, from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU), said: "The onwards distribution of these drugs has been prevented, helping to keep our communities safe."

Some of the cocaine blocks were stamped with a "Nike tick"

ERSOU said Claes used his haulage company as cover for transporting the drugs and had travelled from Steenokkerzeel, Belgium, in June 2023, when he stopped at Toddington Services.

A car, driven by Ahmed Omar, 28, of Newcomen Road, in Leytonstone, east London, pulled up next to the lorry, before Claes removed two boxes from the trailer and loaded them into the vehicle.

Omar pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply and will be sentenced at a later date.

The drugs were found packed in cardboard boxes in the lorry trailer

When ERSOU officers searched the trailer they found 25 stone (155kg) of cocaine stowed amongst a legitimate delivery of empty pharmaceutical insulation boxes.

A further six stones (36kg) of cocaine in pressed blocks was found in Omar's car.

Police estimated the street value of the drugs to be £19.2m.

ERSOU said both men were trusted members of an international organised crime group and the blocks of cocaine were destined for onward supply within the UK.

The £19.2m haul of drugs was divided into kilogram blocks, ERSOU said