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Drugs hidden in lorry transporting flowers and heading to Kent are seized by Border Force
11:19, 06 August 2020
updated: 11:58, 06 August 2020
Drugs worth £14million were discovered in a lorry full of roses and sunflowers heading to Kent.
Border Force seized the haul of cocaine and amphetamines after stopping the lorry in Coquelles, the checkpoint centre for the Eurotunnel in France, last Wednesday.
The lorry, en route to the UK via Folkestone from the Netherlands, was stopped at 11.10pm and searched by officers who found the drugs hidden within a load of flowers.
Officials found that each container of sunflowers and roses had a false floor.
The floor of each of the 43 containers was unscrewed and 35 of them were found to contain an estimated 250kg of cocaine and 169kg of amphetamine.
The cocaine has an estimated street value of more than £12.5million; the amphetamine is believed to be worth over £1.7million.
The operation and extraction of the illegal drugs took more than 12 hours and is one of the largest commercial drugs seizures in the UK this year.
Border Force director Ian Hanson said: "This was a sophisticated concealment.
"The smugglers had skilfully built a false floor into each container and this would have been undetectable to the untrained eye."
Following the Border Force detection, the seizure was referred to the National Crime Agency.
The driver, Jolle Post, 32, from Urk, Netherlands, was arrested and charged the next day on two counts for controlled importation of drugs, one charge is for Class A drugs, the other is for Class B drugs.
He appeared at Medway Magistrates Court the same day and pleaded not guilty.
He has been remanded in custody and will next appear at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday, September 1.
Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Courts Chris Philp said: "The sale of drugs such as cocaine and amphetamine fuels gang violence leading to the exploitation of vulnerable children.
"This seizure is an excellent example of the crucial work Border Force does every day to prevent illegal drugs entering the UK in the first place.
"We will do all we can to stop these heinous gangs and keep the public safe."
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