National Crime Agency
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Smuggler who drove Porsche packed with drugs is jailed
A drug runner who used a specially adapted Porsche to smuggle class A drugs worth millions of pounds into the UK has been jailed for eight years, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.
Johan De Craemer, 64, from Bruges in Belgium was stopped by Border Force officers at Dover as he arrived on a ferry from Calais on 20 January 2014, claiming to be visiting the UK for a business trip.
During an inspection of the Porsche Cayenne he was travelling in they discovered plates concealing specially constructed compartments underneath the vehicle.
Inside were 58 packages containing 52 kilos of cocaine and three kilos of heroin. The haul had a likely potential street value of more than £11 million pounds.
NCA investigators pieced together De Craemer’s movements and found that he made five other trips to the UK with the same vehicle.
On his previous visit, less than two weeks before, he drove the vehicle to a hotel in the Docklands area of London, where CCTV footage showed it was driven away by another man, only to be returned to the hotel several hours later.
De Craemer was charged with four counts of importing class A drugs, and on 25 July he was found guilty on all charges by a jury at Canterbury Crown Court. On 20 January he was sentenced to serve eight years.
Matt Rivers, from the NCA’s Border Policing Command, said:
“De Craemer was a professional smuggler with a plausible cover story, who went to extraordinary lengths and used a sophisticated concealment method.
“Given the history of his previous trips it possible he was responsible for trafficking tens of millions of pounds of dangerous class A drugs into the UK.
“Close work between NCA border investigators and Border Force has prevented him causing even more damage.”
Paul Morgan, Director of Border Force South East and Europe said:
“Border Force works closely with the National Crime Agency and other law enforcement colleagues, to protect the UK from drug traffickers and other high harm offenders.
“This was a serious offence and the seizure by Border Force has prevented a significant quantity of drugs from reaching the streets.
“Those convicted of drug importation offences can expect considerable custodial sentences.”
