Pilot who flew with SAS dropped £2.5m of cocaine

A Belgian helicopter pilot who flew with the SAS dropped more than £2.5million of cocaine into the UK from a light aircraft, a court has heard.

Rudi Sels, 65, from Balen, near Antwerp, who was extradited to Britain, admitted conspiracy to smuggle 68lb (31kg) of the Class A drug into the country.

The Old Bailey heard how the National Crime Agency had the sophisticated operation under surveillance well before the drugs hit the ground.

Sels was jailed for 14 years. His three co-defendants were jailed in January for between 16 years and 10 years and nine months.