THREE JAILED FOR 47 YEARS OVER £80M COCAINE HAUL FOUND IN LORRY

Three people have been jailed for a combined 47 years after a lorry driver tipped off police to an £80 million cocaine haul by stopping at a burger van in Northampton for a cup of tea. Witnesses saw a grey Transit van pull up at the layby before men removed wrapped packages from the lorry and fled. Northamptonshire Police found seven holdalls of cocaine inside the lorry and, within two hours, traced the Transit van, recovering 11 more. The 18 holdalls, containing 78kg of the class A drug worth over £80 million, were seized on 26 November 2021. Craig Le-Mare, from Watford, was jailed for 20 years at the Old Bailey on Wednesday after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

Michael Weston, of no fixed abode, and Kelly Robertson, from Watford, had admitted their roles and were jailed for 12 years nine months and 15 years. The lorry's container, sealed in Mexico in September 2021 and documented as carrying steel furniture parts, arrived at Felixstowe port on 12 November. Financial records showed the smugglers travelling to Ipswich the same day. The discovery prompted a two-year Metropolitan Police investigation into the gang's movements and finances.

Robertson was arrested in December 2023, while Le-Mare, who left the UK after the drugs were seized, was arrested at Gatwick Airport on 25 January 2025. Detective Inspector Dean Grafton, who led the investigation, said the case "exposed an intricately planned operation, where the defendants hoped to make millions by selling cocaine across the UK." He said officers "meticulously unravelled their operation, conclusively proving their role in the attempted heist." Grafton added that "drugs fuel criminality and rip families and communities apart."