The seizure was made on Sunday, 11 October, when officers stopped a Lithuanian registered lorry at Dover’s Eastern Docks.
They searched the vehicle and found an estimated 25 kilos of cocaine in a box which had been hidden amongst the furniture, and a further five kilos in the vehicle’s cab. The drugs had a potential street value of around £2.5 million and the investigation was referred to the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Chris Philp, Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Courts, said:
Class A drugs like cocaine destroy lives so I’m very pleased this seizure has been made as it has prevented this lethal cargo from reaching our streets.
Working with our partners at the NCA we will continue to do all we can to arrest and prosecute those involved in drug smuggling.
We are also grateful for the ongoing close cooperation we have with the Lithuanian authorities in tackling serious crime.
Lithuanian national Ernestas Urbonas, 27, of no fixed UK address, was charged with the attempted importation of a Class A drug. He appeared at Maidstone Magistrates Court yesterday (13 October) and was remanded in custody until his next appearance at Canterbury Crown Court on 9 November.
Border Force officers use hi-tech search equipment to combat immigration crime and detect banned and restricted goods that smugglers attempt to bring into the country.