Driver jailed for lorry cocaine stash

A man who tried to smuggle cocaine worth almost a million pounds into the UK has been jailed for six years and nine months.

Krzysztof Darius Jezak, 45, from Poland, appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on 31 July, having pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing on 15 June.

The National Crime Agency launched an investigation into the Polish national after Border Force officers stopped him attempting to pass through Dover’s Docks on 27 April 2020.

Jezak was driving a low loader vehicle and told officers that he was going to Bridgwater, Somerset, to collect a Fiat to export back to Poland.

When officers searched the truck they found 12 kilos of cocaine stashed beneath the passenger seat, with an estimated street value of £960,000.

He initially denied knowledge of the drugs but later admitted charges at a preliminary hearing at Canterbury Crown Court in June.

NCA Regional Head of Investigations Andrea Wilson said: “Together with partners we’ve been able to secure this conviction and make sure that a significant amount of cocaine did not make its way into the UK.

“The trade of class A drugs is almost always linked to some level of violence and exploitation, with the people at the top profiteering the most.

“We’re determined to do all we can to disrupt the organised crime groups behind it.”