Driver brought 'colossal amount of cocaine' to UK

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

A lorry driver responsible for bringing a "colossal amount of cocaine within the UK" has been convicted.

Police found drugs worth £19.2m after stopping a lorry at Toddington Services on the M1 in Bedfordshire in June last year.

Ruidi Claes, 62, was found guilty of importing 30 stone (190kg) of cocaine and supplying six stone (38kg) of cocaine after he travelled from Belgium to Britain.

A second man, Ahmed Omar, 28, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply after two boxes were loaded on to his vehicle from Claes's lorry. Both are awaiting sentence.

The police's Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) said the pair were trusted members of an international organised crime group and the drugs were destined for onward supply in the UK.

Belgian national Claes had driven from Steenokkerzeel, Belgium when he stopped on the M1.

A car driven by Omar, of Newcomen Road in Leytonstone, east London, was seen to pull up next to the lorry, ERSOU said.

Claes then put two boxes from the trailer into the vehicle.

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

Police found 25 stone (155kg) of cocaine stowed among a legitimate delivery of empty pharmaceutical insulation boxes.

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

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

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

Det Insp Dean Trollope said: "Claes and Omar were responsible for the onwards distribution of a colossal amount of cocaine within the UK.

“The work of our investigators has ensured that the drugs will not end up in the communities of the eastern region and beyond."

Claes was tried at at Luton Crown Court and is due to be sentenced there on 14 June.

Omar will be sentenced at a later date.