Release from HM Customs and UK Border Agency....******
Essex man charged with smuggling cocaine.
A 61 year-old British man, David Allen BANCROFT, of 8 Nesbit Close, Wickford in Essex , has been charged with drug smuggling, following the discovery of 15kgs of cocaine with an estimated street value of 245,000 in a vehicle at Dover during the weekend.
UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers at Dover's Eastern Docks intercepted Bancroft driving a UK registered freight vehicle after he arrived on a ferry from Calais. After questioning him, officers searched the vehicle and found the cocaine hidden in wine boxes in the cab. Bancroft was subsequently arrested by HMRC investigators, interviewed and charged and has been bailed to appear before Dover Magistrates on Thursday 01 May 2008.
Bev Morgan, HM Revenue & Customs spokesman at Dover said:
"HM Revenue & Customs, along with the newly formed UK Border Agency, is working at the forefront of the fight to stop drugs entering the UK and to reduce the associated harm to our communities. We aim to protect society from this activity wherever we detect it, at the borders or inland.
Anyone with information relating to smuggled goods should contact HMRC's confidential hotline number on 0800 59 5000"
