Cocaine seized from a cheese lorry at Dover

Border Force officers at the inward freight controls at Dover's Eastern Docks have seized approximately 40 kilos of cocaine with a likely potential street value in excess of £1.6 million.

The drugs were discovered on Friday evening (22 May 2015) when officers stopped and searched a Lithuanian-registered lorry carrying a load of cheese. The drugs were then discovered within the bodywork of the vehicle. The vehicle had arrived at the port on a ferry from Calais.

The 34 year-old Lithuanian driver, Edvinas Janusauskas, was arrested and the investigation passed to the National Crime Agency.

He was later charged with the attempted importation and appeared before Dover Magistrates Court on Monday, where he withheld his plea. Janusauskas was remanded in custody and will next appear at Canterbury Crown Court on 15 June.

Paul Morgan, Director of Border Force South East and Europe said: "By making this seizure, worth an estimated £1.6m, Border Force officers have prevented a substantial quantity of dangerous class A drugs from ending up on the streets of the UK and have put a serious dent in the profits of the criminals involved in this type of smuggling.

"Working with law enforcement colleagues like the NCA we are determined to do all we can to prevent drug trafficking and put those responsible behind bars."

Border Force officers use hi-tech search equipment to combat immigration crime and detect banned and restricted goods that smugglers attempt to bring into the country.

They use an array of search techniques including sniffer dogs, carbon dioxide detectors, heartbeat monitors and scanners - as well as visual searches - to find well-hidden stowaways, illegal drugs, firearms and tobacco which would otherwise end up causing harm to local people, businesses and communities.

Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to smuggling should call the smuggling Hotline on 0800 59 5000.