A stash of cocaine worth £33,000,000 was discovered by Border Force officers in a shipment of onion rings headed for the UK.
418kg of the Class A drug was found in a lorry at Coquelles, near Calais, on November 11, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).
NCA branch commander Mark Howes said: ‘This was a really significant amount of drugs taken out of circulation.’
A lorry driver has been charged in a National Crime Agency investigation after a haul of 418 kilos of cocaine was found in a cover load of frozen onion rings.
Full story ➡️ https://t.co/QP3AxgabwV pic.twitter.com/LrBh1yqaWv
— National Crime Agency (NCA) (@NCA_UK) November 14, 2021
Piotr Perzenowski, a 30-year-old lorry driver from Poland, has been charged with smuggling Class A drugs
He appeared at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, November 13, and is remanded to appear at Canterbury Crown Court on December 13, Metro reports.
‘The seizure will deprive the organised crime group responsible for them of profit which would have fuelled more offending. Working with our partners such as Border Force we will continue to fight the Class A drugs threat in our mission to protect the public,’ Howes added.
The find comes after a rise in drug crimes in the UK last year. According to the Drug Crime statistics for England and Wales, the UK recorded around 175,000 drug offences in 2019-2020, up 13% on the previous year.
A lorry driver has been charged after cocaine with an estimated street value of £33m was found in a load of frozen onion rings at the Eurotunnel terminal in France. Piotr Perzenowski from Poland appeared in court in Folkestone yesterday.
— Simon Jones (@SimonJonesNews) November 14, 2021