Two coach drivers have been sentenced to a total of 24 years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court, after being found guilty of smuggling six kilos of cocaine into the UK through Dover.
The court heard that Alban Velaj and Gjevdet Gashi were arrested on 18 October 2010 at the inward controls at Dover when UK Border Agency officers searched a British registered coach.
The coach was empty apart from the two drivers who claimed they had travelled to Antwerp airport that morning to pick up a group of Chinese tourists and take them to the European Parliament in Brussels.
During the search of the coach officers found six packages of cocaine in the air conditioning unit of the coach roof. The drugs weighed approximately six kilos when removed and had an estimated street value of £480,000.
Velaj and Gashi were found guilty by a jury at Canterbury Crown Court earlier today (Tuesday, 17 May 2011).
