Driver gets nine years for drugs smuggling

A LORRY driver has been jailed for nine years after trying to smuggle 24kg of cocaine hidden around a bunk bed.

Robertas Trimailovas, from Alytus in Lithuania, pleaded guilty over the drugs, which would have been worth about £1 million on the streets of the UK.

The huge haul was discovered after the 46-year-old was stopped at Dover on April 5.

Border Force officers scoured the cab of the Lithuanian-registered lorry and found the cocaine hidden in three spaces in the lining surrounding the driver’s bunk bed.

Trimailovas was interviewed by National Crime Agency officers and charged with importing a class A drug.

He pleaded guilty at Canterbury Crown Court on Monday, and was sentenced to nine years at the same court yesterday.

Martin Grace, Dover branch commander for the NCA, said: “Drug runners like Trimailovas should be in no doubt about our determination to catch them and bring them to justice.

“Class A drugs bring violence and exploitation to our communities, and working with partners like Border Force, we are committed to disrupting the organised crime groups involved.”