HGV driver was heading for the city with £1.6m haul of cocaine
A LORRY driver caught with a £1.6 million haul of cocaine apparently destined for the streets of Leicester has been jailed for six years.
Border Force officers intercepted Pedrag Gogic at Dover as he was attempting to import 20 kilos of the class A drug, which was hidden inside reels of paper chord in the back of his trailer.
The 53-year-old Croatian national, from the city of Vukivar, was stopped at Dover’s Easter Docks as he tried to enter the UK in May 2021
The National Crime Agency (NCA) have now released details of the case.
It said customs officers became suspicious when a routine scan of Gogic’s HGV, which had arrived at the Kent port from Belgium, detected an “anomaly in the load”.
Further inspection revealed several blue and green shrinkwrapped packages in the centre of
reels of paper cord in the back of the trailer.
“This was found to be a total of 20 packages of cocaine”, said an NCA spokesman.
During an interview with NCA officers, Gogic admitted knowledge of the drugs in his trailer and said he was being paid to smuggle the consignment into the UK.
“He told officers the cocaine was destined for Leicester, where he was due to receive a payment of 10,000 euros,” said the spokesman.
NCA experts believe the drugs would have been worth about £1.6 million once cut and sold on the streets of the city.
Last Thursday, Gogic was jailed for six years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to attempting to import Class A drugs at an earlier hearing.
NCA spokesman Mark Howes said: “Gogic was in the pay of organised crime groups, seeking his share of criminal profit by, transporting cocaine across borders.
“But instead of receiving a 10,000 EUR pay-out, he’ll be spending six years behind bars.
“Individuals like him fail to consider the impact that illegal drug supply has on communities.
“Cocaine remains a driver of violence and exploitation among vulnerable people.
“The NCA is committed to tackling the class A drugs threat and protecting the public.
“Working with key partners, such as Border Force, we will continue to disrupt drug networks at every stage of the trafficking process.”