A truck driver in the U.K. has been jailed for smuggling more than £7 million (CAD $12.8 million) worth of cocaine in a vehicle carrying a shipment of underwear and clothing by Kim Kardashian’s Skims brand, the National Crime Agency (NCA) says.
“The load was entirely legitimate, and neither the exporter nor importer was connected to the smuggled load,” the agency said.
However, the truck had been “specially adapted” to hide contraband in the trailer doors.
Polish national Jakub Jan Konkel, 40, was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court, about 50 km northeast of London, on Monday to 13 years and six months in prison, following a probe by the British agency tasked with investigating organized crime.
Konkel was stopped by border staff at the Port of Harwich in Essex while returning on a ferry from the Netherlands in a heavy goods vehicle carrying 28 pallets of Skims product.
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Border officers found 90 1kg packages of cocaine, with a street value of around £7.2 million, or about $13 million Canadian, according to the NCA.
The pickup was traced to an undeclared 16-minute stop, where the drugs are thought to have been loaded onto the vehicle with only his and the crime group’s knowledge, the agency said.
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Konkel initially denied having knowledge of the drugs at first, the NCA added, but later pleaded guilty to drug smuggling, confessing he agreed to smuggle the Class A substance for €4,500, about CAD$7,100.
According to the BBC, a cellphone linked to the drug supply was also discovered in the truck and had been set to wipe itself after 18 hours.
NCA operations manager Paul Orchard said it is common for crime rings to hijack legitimate cargo shipments, explaining that they hire drivers willing to take payment to smuggle illegal goods.
“Organized crime groups use corrupt drivers like Konkel to move Class A drugs, often hidden on entirely legitimate loads such as this,” he explained.
“The detection and investigation have removed a significant amount of cocaine whose profits are lost to the crime group behind the smuggling attempt, and with Konkel they’ve lost an important enabler,” he added.
“The NCA works with partners at home and abroad to protect the public from the threat of Class A drugs, which are at the epicentre of huge amounts of crime and suffering in U.K. communities.”
Border Force Assistant Director Jason Thorn added that the seizure of these shipments saves people’s lives and said the interception was a “testament to the brilliant work of Border Force, depriving criminal networks of millions in profit.”
Global News reached out to Skims and Kim Kardashian’s representatives for a comment, but did not receive a response.
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